In what authorities are describing as a calculated attempt to slip through the cracks of the U.S. drug enforcement system, Sergio Maximiliano Martinez of Portland, Oregon, has pled guilty to charges of drug trafficking and obstruction of justice. Martinez was nabbed following an HSI San Diego operation that caught him and his then-girlfriend in a scheme to move cocaine across the border and set up a "blind mule" defense to avoid prosecution.
According to a March 12 court session, Martinez is the second person to admit guilt in a conspiracy that began to unravel last spring when Victoria Carmona was busted with over 40 pounds of cocaine in her car. Officials are commending the agents involved, with HSI San Diego Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz commenting, "I am proud of the dedicated special agents that continually pursue these investigations and hold these individuals and organizations accountable for their illicit activity," as obtained by ICE.gov.
The couple's plans started to fall apart when Carmona was caught at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on February 20, with 19.22 kilograms of cocaine. In a premeditated cover-up strategy, Carmona presented law enforcement with a narrative that she was an unsuspecting courier, echoing the commonly used "blind mule" defense in drug smuggling cases. She claimed to be duped by a job offer on Facebook to transport cash to Mexico. Carmona showed agents messages to support her claim that she was unaware of the drugs stashed in her vehicle.
However, both Carmona and Martinez later confessed that the Facebook Messenger exchanges were falsified. Martinez, who pretended to be Carmona's employer, fabricated the messages to ensure she had a plausible story in case she was detained. He admitted to helping Carmona smuggle drugs into the U.S. on seven separate occasions and to generate false Facebook communications each time to back up their constructed tale. U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said, "The scheme concocted in this case demonstrates how far smugglers will go to evade detection, yet even with an elaborate cover story, the truth came out and these defendants were held accountable," according to the ICE press release.
A sentencing hearing for the defendants is scheduled on June 3 before U.S. District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel. The case has been under the vigilant eyes of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, highlighting the ongoing struggle against the crafty endeavors of drug trafficking organizations and the responses by Homeland Security's chief investigative arm.
