A federal jury in New Orleans, Louisiana, convicted a former Houston police officer on January 15 of charges of supplying a Mexican drug cartel with high-powered weapons and other equipment that helped them smuggle massive amounts of cocaine into Louisiana other communities across the country.
According to the New Orleans Advocate, Noe Juarez, 47, was convicted of conspiring with members of Los Zetas to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced April 20 by U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance.
“A once proud member of the Houston Police Department, Noe Juarez breached his oath to protect and serve by providing weapons and other resources to known violent drug traffickers,” U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite said in a statement. “Today’s guilty verdict ensures that Juarez will now face a lengthy jail sentence for his crimes.”
Breitbart Texas reported in early January that Officer Noe Juarez’s alleged involvement with the notorious Los Zetas cartel goes back to 2006, according to the Houston Chronicle. Prosecutors claimed that a cocaine conspiracy in the Houston area included various safe houses in the Houston area, where drugs were kept before being sent to New York City, Detroit, Maryland, Florida, Tennessee and Louisiana.
According to papers filed at the federal courthouse in New Orleans, at least two convicted cocaine traffickers cooperated with the government to provide information about Juarez’s involvement in the conspiracy. Prosecutors argued he was part of a conspiracy by helping traffickers get their hands on guns, bulletproof vests and ammunition. Juarez also allowed them to use his name to buy luxury cars with their cash, and provided them with sensitive information from a classified law-enforcement database.
Sylvia Longmire is a border security expert and Contributing Editor for Breitbart Texas. You can read more about cross-border issues in her latest book, Border Insecurity: Why Big Money, Fences, and Drones Aren’t Making Us Safer.
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