United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN DIEGO - Angel Dominguez Ramirez Jr. of Tamaulipas, Mexico, pleaded guilty in federal court today to drug and money laundering charges, admitting that he was the leader of a trafficking organization that transported ton-quantities of cocaine from South America to Mexico and into the United States.

According to court documents, the organization Dominguez headed called itself El Seguimiento 39, or El Seg 39. El Seg 39 obtained cocaine from sources of supply in South and Central America and used drug transportation cells in Central America to transport the cocaine into Mexico via boats, aircraft and commercial vehicles, where its transportation network moved cocaine across the U.S.-Mexico border at ports of entry in Texas and California and into cities within the United States. Dominguez purchased cocaine from sources of supply stretching from the Chiapas state of Mexico to Peru, including sources in Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

The charges to which Dominguez pleaded guilty stem from a long-standing investigation that led to more than 30 seizures totaling five tons of cocaine and over $9 million of drug-related proceeds. According to the government filing, Dominguez, a former United States Marine and dual U.S.-Mexican citizen, built his organization through cooperative alliances with the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), the Sinaloa Cartel, the Cartel del Golfo (CDG), and the Los Zetas. His organization not only moved vast quantities of its own cocaine and marijuana into the United States, but it was also used by leaders of other Mexican cartels and drug trafficking organizations to move illegal drugs into the United States.

“The DEA and our law enforcement partners will continue to target high-level individuals and organizations who contribute to addiction and death in the United States for their monetary gain,” said DEA San Diego Field Division Acting Special Agent in Charge Shelly S. Howe. “Today’s guilty plea is testament that collaborative efforts with our law enforcement partners are making a positive impact locally and nationwide by disrupting the drug supply chain.”

“Today’s guilty plea shows that this office, together with its law enforcement partners, will continue to hold accountable those who are importing huge quantities of dangerous drugs into this country,” said Acting United States Attorney Randy Grossman.

“Today’s guilty plea of Angel Dominguez Ramirez Jr. demonstrates the enormous value of strong international and domestic law enforcement partnerships,” said Chad Plantz, acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Diego. “This successful prosecution is the culmination of years of investigative effort by HSI special agents and our partners, to uncover and dismantle Dominguez’s drug trafficking operations.”

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