Mexican National Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Role in Large Scale International Cocaine Trafficking Offense

A Mexican national was sentenced today to 14 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to import approximately 1,900 kilograms of cocaine into the United States.

According to court documents, Jesus Rauda-Avila, 46, was a member of a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization (DTO) led by Marisela Flores-Torruco that was responsible for importing multi-hundred-kilogram quantities of cocaine into the United States.

"Jesus Rauda-Avila conspired with a drug trafficking organization to import almost 2,000 kilograms of cocaine into the United States," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "This level of Mexican DTO importation is the root of the injection of drugs and violence into our communities. Because of people like this defendant, countless Americans lives are ruined, and their families are left picking up the pieces. The Criminal Division will pursue drug traffickers at this level and remove them from our law-abiding society."

"This case highlights DEA's global reach and commitment to justice for those who threaten the safety and security of the United States," said Special Agent in Charge Cindy Marx of the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Special Operations Division. "The case against Rauda-Avila exposes the scope of international drug conspiracies, and today's sentence reflects what's possible when DEA, as part of HSTF, works hand-in-hand with our federal and international partners to dismantle the criminal organizations that threaten Americans."

The DTO, which had operations in New York, Texas, and elsewhere in the United States, sourced its cocaine from Colombia and provided logistical and financial support to coordinate the narcotics' passage through Central America and Mexico and into the United States. During the investigation, law enforcement made several cocaine seizures, including approximately 971 kilograms of cocaine on April 21, 2017, and 500 kilograms of cocaine on May 10, 2017, nearly all of which was attributable to the DTO.

From 2016 to October 2017, in coordination with Flores-Torruco's DTO, the defendant arranged and directed the transportation of funds, drivers, and vehicles from northern Mexico to southern Mexico to purchase and pick up cocaine, which was subsequently transported into the United States for distribution. The defendant conducted at least ten such narcotics purchases in partnership with Flores-Torruco's DTO, each involving between 100 and 400 kilograms of cocaine.

Rauda-Avila pleaded guilty to conspiring to import cocaine to the United States. Three of the defendant's co-conspirators - Marisela Flores-Torruco, Qiyun Chen, and Jose Francisco Mendoza-Gomez - have been convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia for their roles within the DTO, as have several individuals involved with the related Chinese money laundering network. Flores-Torruco pleaded guilty to possession, manufacture, or distribution of a controlled substance and was sentenced to 16 years and 8 months in prison. Chen pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Mendoza-Gomez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The DEA's Special Operations Division, Bilateral Investigations Unit, investigated the case, with assistance from DEA's offices in Cartagena (Colombia), Bogota (Colombia), Panama City, Mexico City, and Guatemala City. U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service provided substantial assistance in the investigation. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs (OIA) provided significant assistance in securing the defendant's arrest and extradition from Mexico.

Trial Attorney Chelsea R. Rooney of the Criminal Division's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edgardo J. Rodriguez and Christopher M. Carter for the Eastern District of Viriginia prosecuted the case.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Washington, D.C., comprises agents and officers from the FBI; Homeland Security Investigations; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; DEA; Diplomatic Security Service; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; Transportation Security Administration Federal Air Marshals Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Enforcement and Removal Operations; and Washington Baltimore HIDTA, with the prosecution being led by the Criminal Division's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

MNF's mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF's Money Laundering and Forfeiture Unit investigates and prosecutes sophisticated money laundering schemes involving financial facilitators, gatekeepers, and other individuals and entities laundering criminal proceeds, and litigates complex civil forfeiture cases to recover assets on behalf of victims.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.