Virginia, United States.
The leader of a massive drug trafficking chain operating in Virginia, North Carolina, Texas and California has filed a guilty plea, Virginia federal prosecutors reported.
Four other defendants arrested in the so-called “Operation Parrillada” have asked to plead guilty or have already been convicted last week for distributing large amounts of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine in Newport News and North Carolina, authorities said Friday.
Mexican Ramiro Ramírez Barreto, 44, is facing at least 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to participating in a current criminal enterprise on Monday.
Authorities indicated that Ramírez Barreto was related to the Sinaloa cartel and supplied cocaine, heroin and fentanyl to several drug distribution groups in Newport News, Virginia, and in Henderson and Greensboro, North Carolina.
His clients included a federal prison inmate who ran a Henderson drug trafficking organization using an illegal cell phone.
Ramírez Barreto could face life in prison if convicted in July. During a search of his home, authorities found 19 kilograms of heroin and more than $ 600,000 in cash.
Two Henderson residents, Tangynika Johnson, 44, and Keith Brownson, 42, filed for guilt on Friday and will also be sentenced in July.
James Noyes, 55, of Newport News, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday, and Russell P. Johnson, 50, of Suffolk, Virginia, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison on Monday.