BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Gilberto Almaraz-Muniz, a former Mexican law enforcement official and current Brownsville resident, was convicted by a federal jury for orchestrating a narcotics trafficking operation, according to the U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani's announcement. The 55-year-old Almaraz-Muniz now faces a possible life sentence after being found guilty of drug conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl.
During a five-day trial followed by roughly three hours of jury deliberation, evidence presented in court revealed Almaraz-Muniz's recruitment of drivers, including Pedro Venegas Jr., 24, from Brownsville. Officials discovered 23 bundles of illicit drugs hidden ingeniously within a modified truck engine after spotting signs of tampering. Almaraz-Muniz's influence ran deep, as his position in Mexican law enforcement was repurposed to facilitate the drug network's extensive operation stretching into Houston and beyond.
Accomplice Jetzrael Saldana, 25, also of Brownsville, was pegged as the intermediary who recruited Venegas on Almaraz-Muniz's behalf. In a vehicle made to seem unassuming, "dry runs" were executed prior to the actual movement of drugs. This meticulously constructed drug-running facade was executed until law enforcement intervened, dismantling not just the physical machinations of modified engines but the complex network that thrived under the guise of legitimacy.
The court also heard of two additional busts tied to Almaraz-Muniz, including an 83-kilogram seizure of liquid meth and a 24-kilogram load of black tar heroin. "This case removed over 100 kilograms off our streets," Hamdani said in a statement asserting the prosecution's resolve against those entrenched, in whole or in part, within the drug trade's labyrinth, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office announcement.
Following their guilty pleas on June 1, 2022, and July 26, 2023, respectively; Venegas and Saldana await sentencing scheduled for early May. As for Almaraz-Muniz, U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera will decide his fate on July 17, which could result in a lifetime behind bars and a fine reaching up to $10 million.
Under tight supervision, Almaraz-Muniz awaits his sentencing, while the Drug Enforcement Administration, alongside local task forces, continue to unravel similar threads of narco-trafficking that meander across towns, cities, and borders. The vigilance of law enforcement aims to choke grasp of those who propagate such operations and spawn the perilous cycle of substance abuse and the violence that too often shadows it.
