Fourteen people in southern Texas have been arrested on methamphetamine charges in four separate cases.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced the arrests Monday morning as part of Operation Dream Catcher.
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Those taken into custody included:
- Jorge Rojo-Villa, 32, of Pasadena
- Maria Villa, 58, a Mexican national living in Houston
- Pedro Rojo, 31, of Houston
- Juan Cantarero, 49, of El Salvador
- Fernando Pacheco Olivo, 33, a Mexican national living in Houston
- Alimid Delatorre Garcia, 54, a Mexican national living in Katy
- Feliberto Pineda Duarte, 36, a Mexican national living in Humble
- Marco Antonio Aparicio-Santos, 44, of Houston
- Jesus Ortiz-Flores aka “Alacran,” 26, of Mexico
Prosecutors said all the suspects have made their first appearances in federal court.
Rojo-Villa, Villa, Rojo and Cantarero are charged with conspiracy to and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
Authorities said the case centered around the distribution of methamphetamine and cocaine in the Houston area.
In a separate criminal complaint, Olivo, Garcia and Duarte are charged with conspiracy to and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
The charges centered around the distribution of methamphetamine in the Houston area.
In the third case, Hernandez-Villegas, Aparicio-Santos and Ortiz-Flores are charged with conspiracy. They also face additional counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
All 14 defendants face a minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison, as well as possible $10 million fines.
Authorities also seized more than $2 million in cash, 279 pounds of methamphetamine, 206 pounds of cocaine and 138 pounds of heroin as part of the operation, officials said.
Operation Dream Catcher is the result of investigations conducted by the DEA, the Houston Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Strike Force, the DEA High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, and IRS Criminal Investigation.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, the Ft. Bend County Sheriff’s Office, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, police departments in Houston, Huntsville and Pasadena, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the Texas Department of Public Safety, sheriff’s offices in Montgomery and Walker counties and the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care also assisted.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Magness and Arthur R. Jones are prosecuting the cases.
(Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the U.S. Attorney's name is Kenneth Magidson, not Keith Magidson.)