ICE operation targets 26 in RGV drug, cash smuggling ring

Federal authorities have targeted 26 people in an indictment alleging a drug and money laundering conspiracy that moved millions of dollars worth of marijuana through the Rio Grande Valley.

A dozen of the suspects remain under federal seal in the case. Whether they have already been detained remains unclear, but federal authorities ask the court to redact suspects’ names from indictments prior to their arrests.

Undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents posing as tractor-trailer drivers say they met with Francisco Javier “Panchillo” Treviño and Luis Rios Garza in July, when they talked about moving a ton of marijuana between McAllen and Houston, according to a criminal complaint.

The men allegedly delivered 1,800 pounds of marijuana to the undercover agent, who then drove it to an unnamed drug trafficking organization in Houston.

Treviño’s father, Lauro Arturo “Pelusa” Treviño, tried to persuade the agent to turn over the drug load without payment, but he refused, according to the complaint. The agent received $25,000 for the transport in Houston and coordinated a $25,000 payment that was given to another undercover ICE agent in McAllen.

Authorities stopped the load vehicle after the agent turned it over in Houston. Lauro Treviño then called the undercover agent, saying the Roma-based marijuana supplier wanted to meet with him in person.

The undercover agent then met with the elder Treviño and the supplier’s “right-hand man,” Juan Moya, in Rio Grande City. They told the undercover agent he should take responsibility for the lost marijuana and pay $20,000 until they discovered how authorities seized the drugs in Houston.

The undercover agent refused.

No further details of the alleged conspiracy are available in court records.

Lauro and Francisco Treviño — along with Moya, Garza, Mario Alberto “Gruñon” Treviño, Miguel Ramos “Muñeco” Lozano — were named in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in McAllen on Oct. 5. The complaint has since been made unavailable to the public.

A federal grand jury returned the indictment against the six men plus 17 others on Nov. 1. The 20 other defendants’ names remain under seal by the court.

The indictment alleges the Treviño drug smuggling ring operated between August 2009 and October 2011, moving more than 10,000 pounds of marijuana through South Texas and millions of dollars in proceeds.

Federal agents seized about $2.5 million in cash and three properties in Roma, including one at 1088 E. Paisano St., according to the indictment.

Agents detained three more suspects whose names were previously under seal on the indictment: Baldomero Vega, Ivan Baldomero Vega and Jose Roel Salinas, all of whom are set to appear at a detention hearing Tuesday.

The six other defendants named in the case remain in federal custody without bond.

Attempts to reach Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.