ICE Arizona, multiagency case results in Nogales man sentenced to 10 years in prison for methamphetamine possession, intent to distribute

TUCSON, Ariz. – A Nogales man was sentenced last week to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

“Storing to distribute deadly drugs requires a person lacking a moral compass,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge for Arizona, Francisco B. Burrola. “HSI and our federal partners are committed to weeding out people that look to plague our communities with drugs, we will not stand for it. The defendant in this case will have a decade in prison to think of his actions that cost him his freedom.”

Sergio Humberto Ramos, 73, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, admitting that he was paid to store the drugs at a trucking yard near Nogales until they could be transported.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

Assistant U.S. Attorney, David Petermann, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.