Homeland Security Task Force effort delivers alleged cartel drug trafficker into US custody

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A 46-year-old Mexican national is set to appear in U.S. federal court for significant drug trafficking offenses, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.

Roberto Bazan-Salinas aka Beto is set for an arraignment and detention hearing at 10 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mitchel Neurock in Corpus Christi.

A federal grand jury returned the indictment against the alleged associate of Cartel del Golfo March 27, 2024.

Between 2021 and 2022, Bazan-Salinas allegedly conspired with others to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than 500 grams of a mixture containing meth.

Mexican authorities arrested him in Guanajuato, Mexico, March 5 pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant the United States had requested. He was extradited June 18.

If convicted, Bazan-Salinas faces up to life in prison and a possible $10 million maximum fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Watt is prosecuting the case, which is now part of the Homeland Security Task Force 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 U.S. 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 South Texas comprises agents and officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations; FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Department of Transportation; IRS Criminal Investigation; Interpol/Department of State; and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas leading the prosecution.

The Department of State, Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs and Government of Mexico provided invaluable assistance securing the arrest and extradition from Mexico.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.