HSTF Shuts Down Mexican Cocaine Smuggling Operation Leading to 15 Prison Sentences

 

The last of 15 defendants was sentenced to prison after a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) investigation dismantled a Kansas City metro-based drug trafficking ring linked to Mexico.  

In December 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) launched an investigation into a drug trafficking ring headed by Santiago Gamboa-Saenz. Gamboa-Saenz, 39, is an illegal alien from Chihuahua, Mexico. His network of traffickers smuggled cocaine from Mexico into the United States, which was then transported and distributed in Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri, Saint Louis, Chicago, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and Indiana. 

Through investigation, agents tied the criminal network to houses on West 98th Street in Overland Park and South Montebello in Olathe. They also determined a mechanic shop on Kaw Drive in Kansas City, Kansas, was being used to outfit vehicles with hidden compartments to transport drugs and drug money.

Search warrants executed at these locations and others resulted in the seizure of over $733,000 and over 18.0 net kilograms of cocaine. Vehicle stops led to the discovery of hidden compartments with $533,780 in cash, more than 12.0 net kilograms of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and many drug ledgers. The drug ledgers alone document drug proceeds from cocaine sales in the amount of $48,783,269. The drug trafficking organization sold cocaine to its customers for $29,000 to $36,000 per kilogram. 

“This operation demonstrates to Americans the vast reach of drug trafficking organizations within the Midwest, but more importantly, puts on display the impressive capabilities of combined law enforcement efforts,” DEA St. Louis Field Division Special Agent in Charge Steven Hofer said. “Cartel members and affiliates are not welcome here. The DEA and our many partners will not slow down or be deterred as we work toward dismantling the drug trafficking organizations terrorizing our communities.”

“What may look like legitimate businesses from the outside can sometimes be criminal operations. These smugglers used a mechanic shop as a front in attempt to fly under the radar of law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. “They used the space to custom outfit vehicles with hidden compartments allowing them to move large amounts of illegal narcotics and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash at a time.”

Santiago Gamboa-Saenz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. He was sentenced to 276 months imprisonment.

Other defendants received the following prison sentences: 

• Frank Gallo De La Cruz, 41, an illegal alien from Mexico, 108 months
• Dimas Simoes Calixto-Filho, 46, an illegal alien from Brazil, 108 months 
• Efrain Garcia-Perez, 42, an illegal alien from Mexico, 104 months
• Juan Alvarez-Perez, 40, an illegal alien from Mexico, 96 months 
• Bryan Eduardo Dominguez-Green, 24, an illegal alien from Mexico, 71 months
• Miguel Angel Vasquez-Rodriguez, 37, an illegal alien from Mexico, 64 months 
• Maria Ileana Cota, 37, of Henderson, Colorado, 48 months
• Eduardo Ramirez-Ochoa, 36, a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico residing in Cotton Falls, Kansas, 46 months 
• Jaime De Jesus Ocampo, 62, of Kansas City, Kansas, 24 months
• Irlanda Areyim Grajeda, 37, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 22 months
• Jesus Gonzalez-Rodriguez, 41, an illegal alien from Mexico, 21 months 
• Homero Baca-Marquez, 28, an illegal alien from Mexico, 21 months 
• Jose Cera-Acosta, 40, of Kansas City, Kansas, 17 months 
• Vladimir Blanco-Garciga, 54, a Cuban national residing in Riverside, Missouri, 4 months

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Zabel and Taylor Hines prosecuted the case.

This operation 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 Kansas City comprises agents and officers from FBI; HSI; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas.