6 Plead Guilty in Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering Scheme

Reported by: Manuel De La Rosa
Last Update: 2:53 pm

CORPUS CHRISTI - Six people involved in a Brownsville drug trafficking and money laundering scheme plead guilty in a South Texas federal court.

Six people from the lower Rio Grande Valley entered their pleas in a Corpus Christi federal courtroom late last week. They were involved with smuggling large loads of cocaine to Dallas and Atlanta from Brownsville. They also received millions of dollars in drug proceeds to be smuggled into Mexico.

ICE agents raided six homes, including one in Brownsville, last month. They seized more than half a million dollars during the raid, which has been forfeited already.

Investigators say five people were involved in transporting 5 kilos of cocaine out of the Valley over the last two years. They say Arturo Gomez was the ringleader and used his auto repair shop as a front. That's where the drugs and money proceeds were received and delivered.

They say Magda Zendejas, Reyna Ceballos, Julio Gonzalez and David Alcala all helped with the drug trafficking and money laundering operation.

All five will be sentenced in August and face up to life in prison.

Prosecutors say Vanessa Weaver took $16,000 into Mexico without declaring it. She'll face as much as five years in federal prison when she gets sentenced in late June.

The U.S. Attorney's Office is trying to get the defendants to forfeit a 38-acre property in Georgia, a half million dollars in drug proceeds and 20 vehicles seized in the raid. Together, they are worth $1.5 million.

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