United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ATLANTA - Carlos Montemayor, the head of the U.S. arm of the cocaine transportation and distribution network of Edgar Valdez-Villareal, a/k/a La Barbie, has been sentenced to federal prison on charges of cocaine trafficking and money laundering.

Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta, commented, “Today’s sentencing of Carlos Montemayor is a victory for the citizens of this country. This defendant’s decision to hide behind the veil of his once-legitimate trucking company led to a twist of fate driven by greed. Because of the united front between DEA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the DEA's federal, state, local, and foreign partners, the citizens of this country can feel safer.”   

“Montemayor came to the United States from Mexico and used his skills, hard work, and the opportunities afforded in this country to build a successful trucking company from the ground up,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak.  “However, he was ultimately driven by greed and partnered with Edgar Valdez-Villareal to convert his trucking company into a transportation arm for the Sinaloa and Beltran-Leyva cartels, shipping tons of cocaine and drug money across the United States.”

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court:  Beginning in 1992, Montemayor established and built a successful trucking and logistics company in Laredo, Texas, that specialized in moving goods across the border from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and then into and across the United States. 

In 2002, however, he partnered with Edgar Valdez-Villareal, the infamous and ruthless enforcer for the Sinaloa and Beltran-Leyva cartels. Valdez, who would ultimately become the highest ranking American-born member of a Mexican drug cartel, needed help moving his cocaine from Mexico to customers in the United States. Montemayor’s transportation network fit the need exactly. 

Using his logistics skills, trucks, and distribution hubs, Montemayor was soon moving up to 300 kilograms of cocaine per week to stash houses in Atlanta, Memphis, Tennessee, and other cities in the United States. He then used his trucks to smuggle proceeds from the drugs sales back to Mexico – in shipments that carried no less than $1 million cash per load. Montemayor’s transportation network was particularly regimented, disciplined, and efficient, with Montemayor and his lieutenants exercising tight control over the workers and all aspects of the drug trade. 

The entire drug trafficking network was pierced by DEA agents who began wiretapping phones used by Montemayor’s workers at a distribution hub in Atlanta. Methodically unraveling the network of conspirators, seizing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and millions of dollars of cash at a time, agents followed the chain of command of the organization to identify Montemayor, ultimately intercepting the calls in which he tightly controlled activities from Mexico. Agents then went even further to identify Montemayor’s partner and cocaine supplier: Valdez. Both Valdez and Montemayor were arrested in Mexico in 2010 and extradited to face trial in the United States in 2015. 

Carlos Montemayor, a/k/a The Director, a/k/a Licenciado, a/k/a Fox, 47, of Tamaulipas, Mexico, was sentenced to 34 years, three months in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May. Montemayor pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and conspiracy to launder money on Nov. 14, 2018.

Members of the drug trafficking operation previously sentenced in the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Georgia are:

• Edgar Valdez-Villareal, a/k/a La Barbie, of Laredo, Texas, who was sentenced to 49 years and one month in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit the sum of $192,000,000. Valdez-Villareal pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and conspiracy to launder money on Jan. 6, 2016, and was sentenced on June 6, 2018.
• Ruben Hernandez, a/k/a Super, a/k/a Secre, who was sentenced to 22 years, four months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Hernandez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to launder money on Jan. 29, 2013, and was sentenced on Oct. 15, 2013.
• Juan Montemayor, a/k/a Vice, a/k/a Johnny-5, who was sentenced to 21 years, 10 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Juan Montemayor pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine on July 16, 2013, and was sentenced on Oct. 15, 2013.
• Jesus Ramos, a/k/a C-1, who was sentenced to eight years, four months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Ramos pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine on June 18, 2010, and was sentenced on Jan. 21, 2011.
• Jesus Hector Flores, a/k/a Cain, who was sentenced to 38 years, four months in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Flores was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and ecstasy, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on Jan. 11, 2008, and was sentenced on May 9, 2008.
• Romero Roel Martinez, a/k/a Cache, a/k/a Cuchillo, who was sentenced to 26 years, 10 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Martinez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on April 20, 2007 and was sentenced on May 8, 2008.
• Luis Fernando Trevino, a/k/a Chile, who was sentenced to 14 years, nine months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Trevino pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on March 14, 2007, and was sentenced on June 17, 2008.
• Joe Louis Lopez, a/k/a Jolly, who was sentenced to 29 years, four months in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Lopez was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on Jan. 11, 2008, and was sentenced on May 7, 2008.
• Roberto Garcia, a/k/a Gordo, a/k/a Mike Jones, who was sentenced to 14 years, nine months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on April 20, 2007 and was sentenced on May 28, 2008.
• Florentino Villanueva-Castillo, a/k/a Tejano, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Villanuevo-Castillo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine on Jan. 7, 2008 and was sentenced on May 28, 2008.
   
  This case was investigated by the DEA.
   
  Former U.S. Attorney John Horn, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth M. Hathaway – Chief of the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section -- and Assistant U.S. Attorney Garrett L. Bradford – Deputy Chief of the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section -- prosecuted the case. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance with this case.
   
  This prosecution was brought as a part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s drug supply reduction strategy. OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply.
   
  The DEA encourages parents, along with their children, to educate themselves about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.justthinktwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com and www.dea.gov. Also follow DEA Atlanta via Twitter at @DEAATLANTADiv.

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