HSI Galveston, DEA Houston investigation lands Mexican national in prison for role in multi-state drug trafficking conspiracy

GALVESTON, Texas – A Mexican national was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on July 11 for his role in a multi-state drug trafficking conspiracy following an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation by Homeland Security Investigations Galveston and Drug Enforcement Administration Houston.

Juan Gonzalez-Cardebas, a 56-year-old Mexican national who is lawfully in the United States, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine and one or more kilograms of heroin, as well as possession with intent to distribute 18 kilograms of cocaine. Gonzalez was convicted of the charges in August 2022.

The investigation that led to his conviction, dubbed “Operation Wrecking Ball”, focused on a group of distributors and their associates, primarily citizens of the Dominican Republic, who operated out of Houston and used common sources of drugs in Mexico to traffic cocaine and heroin throughout the United States.

Gonzalez worked within the drug trafficking organization by transporting cocaine from the Dallas and Houston areas to other states such as Virginia. He received shipments of cocaine and used his son-in-law’s moving company to deliver the cocaine to his customers.

The defense attempted to convince the jury that he was an honest hard-working man trying to provide for his family and that his son-in-law set him up. They did not believe those claims and found Gonzalez guilty as charged.

Gonzalez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. Following his release from prison, he is expected to face removal proceedings.

The Houston Police Department assisted with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Cusick is prosecuting the case.

For more news and information on HSI’s efforts to aggressively investigate illicit drug trafficking and smuggling in Southeast Texas, follow @HSIHouston.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.