A sheriff’s deputy in a Texas border county pleaded guilty for his role in helping drug traffickers steal cocaine from competitors.
Baldemar Cardenas, 36, a former deputy with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, recently went before a U.S. federal judge and pleaded guilty to a criminal information charge accusing him of a drug trafficking conspiracy. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Cardenas would help some smugglers steal cocaine shipments.
The initial charge was filed under seal on February 9, court documents revealed. The criminal information charge does not reveal many details of the actual crime but does list the date of the crime as January 27, 2020. The document does not reveal which cartel the cocaine was stolen from.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed that Cardenas would help smugglers who would get kilogram shipments of cocaine. The group would then repackage the drugs and, in the process, cut or dilute the drugs to a purity level of just 1.5 percent.
Cardenas would then use his position in law enforcement to leak information to authorities so they could seize the fake drugs. Prosecutors claim that he received $10,000 for his role in the scheme.
The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) released a statement regarding the case revealing that they had assisted federal agencies along with McAllen Police in investigating and arresting Cardenas. In the statement, the sheriff’s office stated they would investigate any allegations of misconduct.
HCSO has worked to remove a cloud of corruption left during the terms of former Sheriff Lupe Trevino where an entire narcotics unit called Panama, as well as investigators with the Crime Stoppers tip line, went to prison in 2014 for their roles in other drug theft conspiracies. Former Sheriff Trevino went to prison after admitting to having received campaign donations from a local drug lord.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
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