Driver Who Tried To Smuggle Dozens Of Kilos of Cocaine Inside Car Speaker Boxes Sentenced To Ten Years In Prison

A man who attempted to smuggle dozens of kilos of cocaine into the U.S. through a port of entry in Texas has been sentenced to ten years in prison.

Concretely, Jesus Cedillo was sentenced to 126 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute the narcotic.

Cedillo tried to enter the drugs through a Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, in Texas, but his car was searched after a canine unit alerted authorities of drugs being potentially concealed there.

Agents then found over 28 kilos of cocaine in the speaker boxes in the trunk. Cedillo confessed to knowing about the cargo, telling a judge that a former coworker told him he would be paid $6,000 if he managed to successfully transport the drug.

Such cases abound in the U.S. In April, authorities sentenced five Mexican nationals for their roles in a large-scale drug trafficking network responsible for moving over 100 kilograms of cocaine into the country.

These latest convictions follow the earlier sentencing of Victor Aguilar—also of Mexico and the husband of Contreras-Viveros—who was given 127 months in federal prison for his role in the conspiracy.

According to investigators, the trafficking operation ran from 2022 to 2023 and involved smuggling large amounts of cocaine across the southern U.S. border. While officials haven't disclosed the exact smuggling routes or border crossings used, federal authorities noted that the Edinburg Police Department and the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office assisted in the investigation—suggesting the group operated in the Rio Grande Valley, near McAllen, a key entry point on the U.S.-Mexico border.

"The co-conspirators would use vehicles to smuggle the drugs, which were then stored in local stash houses," said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. From there, the cocaine was funneled through various distribution channels across the country.

In December 2022, Ramirez-Serna was arrested while transporting eight kilograms of cocaine. The following month, Filiberto Elizalde-Hernandez delivered another eight kilograms to Contreras-Viveros and Aguilar. Authorities say Ramos-Barragan played a leadership role, managing the logistics of moving and distributing the drugs.