Today in Texarkana, Texas, US Attorney Joseph Brown announced that three search warrants were issued in Dallas County, Texas, relating to drug trafficking in East Texas.
During the warrant search, firearms, ammunition, and 27 kilograms of cocaine were seized along with $200,000 in cash and other goods.
Two men were arrested and face firearm and drug charges from the investigation, which was codenamed "Operation Dirty Bird."
The investigation had already produced indictments for Rodolfo Javier Falcon, Claudia Claribel Gardea, Jose Geraldo Ornelas-Pineda, and Gerardo Cabrera Ramirez.
Gardea and Ornelas-Pineda pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Ramirez and Falcon are still facing trials in a case that is pending in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas.
The operation announced today was a result of a significant drug and money laundering investigation.
Three men were charged with various drug crimes. They are Jose Armando Rosales-Bernal, 27, of Dallas; Julio Villarreal, 35, of Mesquite, Texas; and Armando Moreno, Jr., 30, of Roma, Texas.
If convicted, some defendants face a minimum of 10 years in prison and as much as life without parole in federal prison.
Editor's note: An indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.