Testimony: Cartel leader made $90M in cocaine sales annually

MGN Online
Drug Trafficking

Posted: Thursday, June 27, 2013 9:43 am
The Brownsville Herald
Based on the testimony of childhood friend turned government witness Rafael Cardenas-Vela, the U.S. government estimates that convicted Gulf Cartel lieutenant Juan Roberto Rincon-Rincon made $90 million from cocaine each year, court documents show.
And that’s based on border prices, $12,500 a kilogram, according to Cardenas-Vela who testified during Rincon’s trial. In Houston, that price jumps to $14,500 a kilogram, Cardenas-Vela testified.
Cardenas-Vela has been convicted on drug conspiracy charges and awaits sentencing.
Rincon, also known as “Primo” or “Comandante X," was convicted late last year on two drug conspiracy counts involving huge amounts of cocaine and marijuana. He was sentenced last May to life in prison. He has filed notice that he intends to appeal the conviction and sentence, court documents show.
Wednesday morning, Senior U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle ordered Rincon to pay the U.S. government a monetary judgment of $20 million.
Rincon’s September 2012 trial lasted more than a week, and Cardenas-Vela — also known as “Junior” — testified on the government’s behalf, detailing the changing structure of the Gulf Cartel as it responded to internal and external violence. He also described Rincon’s role in a vast cocaine and marijuana distribution conspiracy spanning from January 2002 until Oct. 26, 2011. Cardenas-Vela admitted to controlling the San Fernando plaza from 2004 to 2009, court testimony revealed.
“Rafael Cardenas Jr. testified that, in the criminal conspiracy with the defendant and others, during 2004-2009 he coordinated landing strips in San Fernando. He testified that pilots would land at a minimum of once per month and up to three times per day, four or five days per week,” a forfeiture motion states. “He testified that each time the plane landed 500 kilograms of cocaine were delivered.”
Cardenas-Vela testified that Rincon — a lieutenant to Gulf Cartel leader George Eduardo Costilla-Sanchez — participated in retrieval of the 500 kilogram cocaine loads in San Fernando with approximately 6,000 kilograms being shipped each year.
According to the government’s forfeiture motion, the United States calculated the $20 million fine by multiplying the U.S. border price of $12,500 per kilogram by the 36,000 kilograms delivered from 2004 to 2009 — a total of $450 million. That total doesn’t consider the marijuana testified about during the trial or the amounts of cocaine other cartel members testified about regarding Rincon’s involvement.
The government will also seek to seize any property Rincon obtained directly or indirectly from the violations for which he is convicted, officials said.
Rincon was arrested after fleeing a gun battle in Rio Bravo and crossing into the United States, where the U.S. Border Patrol officers apprehended him, another ranking cartel member and one other person.
Cardenas-Vela was arrested in Port Isabel a month later.
They were members of rival Gulf Cartel factions battling to eliminate each other and gain full control of the organization’s operations.
mreagan@brownsvilleherald.com

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_dcef664a-df37-11e2-b19c-001a4bcf6878.html