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MCALLEN, TEXAS — A Mexican national who crossed into the country with various types of drugs, at least seven different times, pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking charges.
Ricardo Garza Ramirez pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy just moments before his trial was about to start before U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez.
Garza, 55, is due back in court in November where he faces a possible life term in prison for the charge.
Court records obtained by Breitbart Texas establish federal agents were tipped off to Garza’s BMW sedan in January by a smuggler they caught with more than 30 pounds of marijuana. The smuggler said he had been driving in tandem with a Ford Escort, which the agents were able to identify.
As part of their investigation, the agents learned that the Ford Escort had also been working with a BMW sedan, which the agents spotted on June 17 and stopped. Inside the vehicle the agents found more than 30 pounds of cocaine that had been hidden.
Court records give details of an interview following his arrest, where Garza told some agents with Homeland Security Investigations that some unidentified men had bought the car and put it under his name telling him to drive it into the U.S when told to.
On the days that he was to pick up the vehicle, Garza would go to an area near the Pharr- Reynosa International Bridge, pick up the vehicle, and drive it over to the U.S. side where he would leave the car parked outside of a shopping center and would return hours later to pick it up. For the frequent trips, the man was paid between $200 and $300 which was his only source of income, court records show.
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