SAN ANTONIO – On Tuesday, Juan Gerardo Trevino-Chavez, aka Huevo, 39, of Laredo, Texas, was arrested in San Diego, Calif. on criminal charges related to his alleged involvement in drug trafficking in Mexico and the United States. According to the indictment filed in San Antonio, Trevino is the current leader of the Cartel Del Noreste drug cartel (CDN).
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents assigned to Laredo and San Antonio along with U.S. Drug and Enforcement Agency (DEA) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the U.S. Marshal Service, with assistance from the FBI and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, are investigating the case.
According to court documents, CDN is the successor cartel to the Los Zetas drug cartel for which he was a leader, drug trafficker, enforcer, weapons procurer, and plaza leader. The indictment, unsealed Tuesday, charges Trevino with 11 counts, including one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana; one count of conspiracy to import marijuana; one count of unlawful distribution of controlled substances; one count of conspiracy to employ a person under 18 in drug operations; one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; one count of conspiracy to import cocaine; one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; one count of conspiracy to import methamphetamine; one count of conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking; one count of possession of a machine gun in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime; and one count of Money Laundering.
If convicted, Trevino faces up to life in prison on each of the conspiracy to possess marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine charges; up to life in prison on each of the conspiracy to import cocaine and methamphetamine charges; up to life in prison on the unlawful distribution of controlled substance charge as well as the conspiracy to employ a person under 18 in drug operations charge; up to 10 years in prison on the conspiracy to import marijuana charge; and up to 20 years in prison on each of the firearm charges and the money laundering charge.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
HSI
