CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - A high-ranking member of a Mexican drug cartel pleaded guilty Monday to heroin trafficking, including in the Charlotte area, according to federal authorities.
Forty-year-old Carlos Ramon Castro-Rocha appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler, where he pleaded guilty to importing and distributing heroin in the United States.
Castro-Rocha faces between 10 years and life in prison, and a $10 million fine when he is sentenced later.
U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins said Castro-Rocha was the head of a drug cartel that distributed large quantities of heroin in the United States between 2005 and 2008.
Court records shows that during that period, Castro-Rocha’s network trafficked up to 10 kilograms of black tar heroin worth $1.2 million in the Charlotte area alone.
Castro-Rocha was initially charged in 2009, and was arrested by Mexican authorities about a year later. But he wasn’t extradited from Mexico to the U.S. until the end of 2012.
“Castro-Rocha’s guilty plea speaks of our determination to dismantle organized drug networks and take down their bosses, no matter how long it takes,” Tompkins said. “Drug kingpins hiding in foreign countries think they are beyond our reach, either too powerful to go after or too well-hidden to find. But as this case shows, we will take the fight abroad and overcome all hurdles, until those responsible for flooding our streets with drugs face the American justice system.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe said the case will have a significant impact on drug trafficking in the city.
“Dismantling a drug ring of this magnitude only could have been accomplished through the cooperation of all partner agencies involved. Our message is clear: illegal drug trafficking will not be tolerated or condoned in our community,” he said.
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