HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Mexican national pleaded guilty today to a federal drug crime, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Moises Gamboa, 52, of Rocky Point, Mexico, entered his guilty plea to aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.
Gamboa admitted that in 2010, while in Mexico, he arranged for the transportation of 660 pounds of “very good marijuana” to Nitro. The drugs were to be concealed in the walls of a motorcycle trailer. Gamboa also admitted that he informed an individual cooperating with law enforcement that the driver would make contact to set up a meeting. The driver subsequently told the cooperating individual that he would be arriving in West Virginia on March 5, 2010. When the driver arrived in Nitro, law enforcement seized the marijuana hidden in the motorcycle trailer.
Gamboa faces up to 40 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on May 22, 2017.
This prosecution was made possible through the cooperative efforts of several investigating agencies, including the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team, the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Department in Ohio, the United States Marshals Service, the Kentucky State Police, the Indiana State Police, the Huntington Police Department, and the Policia Federal Ministerial of Mexico. Several Drug Enforcement Administration agents investigated this case, including agents from Charleston, Columbus, Phoenix, Tucson, Chicago, Denver, and Hermosillo, Mexico.
Assistant United States Attorney Monica D. Coleman is in charge of the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.
This case is part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of illegal drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of illegal drugs in communities across the Southern District.
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