A man living in El Paso has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges where he helped smuggle marijuana for the Velasco Criminal Enterprise (VCE), a family-run operation out of Texas.
Samuel Velasco Gurrola, 41, pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana; conspiring to commit a kidnapping in a foreign country; and threatening a victim with a gun while stealing property, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced.
Gurrola is now facing a life sentence for his involvement in the criminal organization.
Gurrola was previously convicted on “three counts of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and four counts of conspiracy to cause foreign travel for murder for hire,” according to ICE.
Breitbart Texas reported in February that an El Paso school teacher was on the run from law enforcement after a slew of federal indictments were against her family for aiding the VCE.
Monica Velasco fled police after her two sisters and brother were charged for their involvement of a murder in Juarez, Mexico where a man and his two daughters were killed.
The VCE is a multi-national drug ring operating out of the Carolinas, Nevada, New Mexico and across the Rio Grande in Juarez.
Court records reveal that VCE traffics marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine. At one point, narcotics were transported from Mexico to El Paso, and also to Deming and Lordsburg, New Mexico by VCE.
Those drugs were then distributed to Dallas, Las Vegas and other cities in North and South Carolina.
VCE is also heavily involved in laundering the money profited from their drug distribution through banks internationally.
ICE says that between 2008 and 2013, “VCE is responsible for committing multiple kidnappings per month that were planned in El Paso, and then carried out in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.”
John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.