Mexican narcotrafficker pleads guilty to smuggling cocaine into U.S. for 3 decades

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA — A narcotics trafficker pleaded guilty Wednesday to international cocaine trafficking conspiracy.

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Raul Flores-Hernandez, also known as El Tio, 70, led a drug-trafficking organization based in Mexico’s Jalisco State that trafficked cocaine into the United States between the 1980s to 2017, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California stated.

Flores-Hernandez leveraged business connections to transport cocaine from Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia to Mexican ports, then smuggled the narcotics by land into the United States, the spokesperson continued.

The United States worked with Mexican authorities to arrest Flores-Hernandez and extradite him to the United States from Mexico, the spokesperson added. He was arrested July 2017 and extradited February 2021.

Flores-Hernandez pleaded guilty to one count of “conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine” into the United States.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14 and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

“A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors,” the spokesperson informed.

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