Mexican ex-police officer convicted of smuggling drugs and weapons across the US border

Former Mexican police officer Rene Hernandez-Cordero, 52, of Ciudad Juarez, was sentenced to 25 years in a federal prison on Thursday, September 5.

Hernandez-Cordero was found guilty in federal court in May 2024 on several counts, including conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute, fake firearm purchases, firearms trafficking and conspiracy to smuggle large amounts of cash, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas.

“In August 2023, Hernandez-Cordero and co-defendant Jesus Gerardo Ramos, 53, of El Paso, met at a gas station in El Paso with the goal of obtaining 20 AK-47-type firearms and two Barrett .50-caliber rifles to be smuggled into Mexico,” the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. “Evidence presented at trial demonstrated that this specific group smuggled hundreds of firearms from the United States into Mexico from August 2022 to August 2023.”

Jesus Gerardo Ramos, 53, of El Paso, pleaded guilty to arms trafficking in April. Sentencing is scheduled for September 26.

Hernandez-Cordero was identified as a former member of the CJNG cartel, which the Justice Department describes as “one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world.”

Another co-defendant, Brian Alexis Munoz Castro, 21, also of El Paso, pleaded guilty to both weapons trafficking and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. According to court documents, when he was arrested, FBI agents found “2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, 300 grams of fentanyl and $6,480 in alleged drug money,” KFOX14 reported in September 2023.

A fourth member of the group, Maria Del Rosario Navarro Sanchez, also known as “Chayo” or “Fernanda,” remains on the run and has been charged with several counts related to methamphetamine trafficking, arms smuggling and sham deals.

The weapons charges fall under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which took effect in June 2022 and targets illegal gun trafficking. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office statement, this law provides for penalties of up to $250,000.

The indictment was part of the El Paso/Las Cruces Strike Force of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), which targeted drug trafficking organizations operating along the U.S.-Mexico border, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

The OCDETF Strike Force Initiative is a coordinated approach across multiple U.S. agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

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