Nogales drug tunnel kingpins sentenced to 11-16 years in prison

The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.27.2008

MEXICO CITY — Four alleged drug traffickers have been sentenced to up to 16 years in prison for digging and operating a drug tunnel between the U.S. and Mexico, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Rigoberto Gaxiola Medina, who authorities say is linked to the dangerous and powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, was sentenced to 11 years after being convicted of ordering the construction of the 330-yard-long, 2-yard-wide tunnel leading from a house in Nogales, Sonora across the border into Arizona, the federal Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.

The tunnel was equipped with rails over which the suspects moved drugs stashed in gondola-like cars, authorities said. Some of the drugs sent to the U.S. were later confiscated by agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the statement said.

Roque Duarte Munoz, who was in charge of receiving the drugs on the U.S. side, and Juan Francisco Quintero Arce, who was responsible for transporting the drugs through the tunnel, also received 11 years in prison.
Armando Aguirre Cardona, aka “The Wizard,â€