12 with Alleged Sinaloa Cartel Connections Charged in Texas Panhandle

Mucshots: Lubbock County Detention Center

by BOB PRICE
2 Feb 2016

The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas announced on Monday that twelve defendants with alleged connections to a methamphetamine distribution organization and the Sinaloa Cartel have been arrested in the area surrounding Lubbock, Texas.

U.S. Attorney John Parker announced the arrest of the eleven Lubbock area residents in connection to their alleged involvement in distributing methamphetamine. During the takedown of the defendants, one kilogram of methamphetamine, thirteen firearms, ammunition and several pieces of stolen property were seized, a statement from the Department of Justice obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed.

The indictment charges each of the following defendants with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine:

Isabel Soto, 28
Veronica Sanchez Lopez, 37
Monty Fred Humble, 35
Martin Leonard Lomas, 34
Michael Brent Watson, 33
Joe Louis Lara, 29
Cruz Lee Betancur, 32
Richard Luke Elam, 49
Jonathon Christopher Chapa, 33
Christopher Ray Lovington, 29
Erica Dominguez, 36

The indictment, released on Monday, charges that the arrested individuals conspired with three previously convicted members of the Sinaloa Cartel who were sent to Lubbock to facilitate distribution of methamphetamine in the region for the cartel.

Those individuals sentenced for possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine are:
Juan Carlos Pinales, 23, sentenced to 151 months in federal prison

Ramon Osvaldo Escobar-Robles, 25, sentenced to 78 months in federal prison

Jesus Mario Moreno-Perez, 24, sentenced to 120 months in federal prison

One defendant remains at large as of the publication time of this article. Defendant Joe Louis Lara was charged, in addition to the drug charges, one count of possession of firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of firearms.

Most of those arrested remain in federal custody.

Breitbart News and Breitbart Texas have reported extensively on the Sinaloa Cartels incursion into cities all across the United States in furtherance of their mission to distribute methamphetamines and other drugs in America. The drug lord Juaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, the reported head of the Sinaloa Cartel, is again in custody after having escaped from a Mexican prison.
Breitbart Texas reported on Sunday that younger drug lords are now fighting to replace El Chapo as the cartel’s leader.

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2016/02/02/12-with-alleged-sinaloa-cartel-connections-charged-in-texas-panhandle/