SAN DIEGO – Raul Flores-Hernandez, aka El Tio, 70, pleaded guilty to international cocaine trafficking conspiracy. He was found guilty of leading a drug-trafficking organization based in Mexico that smuggled cocaine from South America to Mexico, with intentions of getting it into the United States. Flores-Hernandez used his business connections to smuggle substantial quantities of cocaine from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia to ports in Mexico, where they were then transported by land, across the U.S. border. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, knowing that it would be imported into the United States.
Mexican authorities added Flores-Hernandez at the request of the United States in July 2017. He was then extradited to the United States in 2021, where he will be sentenced on June 14 and could face a maximum penalty of life in prison. The DEA Los Angeles and San Diego Field Divisions, FBI Washington Field Office, and HSI San Diego Field Office investigated the case. The Justice Department is grateful to the Mexican authorities for their cooperation in securing the arrest and extradition of Flores-Hernandez. Customs and Border Protection in San Diego provided significant assistance to the investigators. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Martin for the Southern District of California, Acting Deputy Chief Katharine Wagner, and Trial Attorney Melanie Alsworth of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance. The Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) supported this case. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, dismantle and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations and enterprises.
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