A Mexican national who was in the country illegally has pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen.
Guillermo Mercado-Chaparro was found last July in possession of nearly 900 pounds of methamphetamine, recovered in two different vehicles by law enforcement.
Details from the case state that a controlled drug buy took place in south Minneapolis with an undercover officer purchasing one pound of meth from an individual identified as Mercado-Chaparro.
Police followed Mercado-Chaparro after the drug buy and saw him conduct other drug deals. Several days later, police saw Mercado-Chaparro retrieve two large garbage bags from his pickup truck and place them in a nearby Jeep. Police stopped the Jeep a short time later, which was driven by co-defendant Joel Casas-Santiago, and a drug-sniffing dog alerted the odor of drugs in the Jeep. When police searched the Jeep, they found roughly 250 pounds of methamphetamine in the garbage bags and a cooler.
Police then obtained a search warrant for Mercado-Chapparo’s truck, searched it, and seized roughly 630 more pounds of methamphetamine from the truck bed.
Altogether, Mercado-Chaparro possessed almost 900 pounds of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
A statement released by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office following last year’s arrests said the retail value of the recovered methamphetamine was estimated to be $1.7 million, and neither defendant had local ties to the metro community. Both were associated with larger drug sale organizations in Mexico, the statement said.
Both Mercado-Chaparro and Casas-Santiago remain in federal custody. Casas-Santiago’s case is still in process.
A press release from the U.S. attorney regarding the sentencing stated that this case was investigated and prosecuted by the Minnesota Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs, which were established by President Donald Trump in Executive Order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” are joint operations led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
“Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal 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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN),” the press release said.
The case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Ramsey County Crime Enforcement Team, the St. Paul Police Department, the Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force, and the Minneapolis Police Department.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
