A Texas-based Cuban national who ran a trafficking operation with cartel ties will spend more than 12 years in prison for moving large quantities of drugs from Mexico and the Dominican Republic to the U.S.

This week, 47-year-old Juan Ramon Suarez Pupo went before U.S District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo in Laredo, Texas, who sentenced him to 12 years in prison plus five years of probation. He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in March.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Marmolejo mentioned that Suarez Pupo had previously spent more than three years in prison on unrelated human smuggling charges.

Court documents are silent about which Mexican cartel Suarez Pupo held ties, however, the Laredo border area is Los Zetas-Cartel Del Noreste turf. Other organizations like Cartel Jalisco New Generation access the Laredo corridor via alliances with CDN-Los Zetas.

According to court documents, Suarez-Pupo and accomplice Charlie Gonzalez, 36, led a trafficking group between Laredo, Houston, Dallas, and Kentucky.

The case began in April 2019 when agents with the DEA intercepted phone calls between Suarez-Pupo and Gonzalez, revealing their attempt to search for a driver to deliver a load from Laredo. The calls revealed Gonzalez was in charge of preparing, loading, and timing the shipments while Suarez Pupo recruited drivers. By May 22, 2019, an undercover officer posing as a commercial driver met with Suarez-Pupo and asked for a rate of $75 per pound for marijuana. Authorities were able to record calls between Gonzalez and Suarez Pupo as they complained about the potential driver’s high rate for delivery services.

Authorities carried out a surveillance operation on May 29, 2019, at a stash location and saw vehicles being loaded. Investigators dispatched Laredo Police to carry out a traffic stop on a suspect SUV. The driver tried to speed away but crashed shortly thereafter. Police seized 766 pounds of marijuana.

In August 2019, an undercover DEA agent met with Saenz-Pupo to arrange another shipment from Laredo to Louisville, Kentucky. Agents used aerial surveillance and an informant to see Suarez Pupo load a vehicle with 10 bricks of cocaine.

Luisana Moreno is a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas.