Jose Angel Felix-Ramirez, was sentenced to 55 months in prison on November 25, 2019, for his role in a transnational drug trafficking organization, after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Felix-Ramirez was the last of 18 defendants charged as a result of an investigation, dubbed Operation Rocky Top 2.
The investigation found that the drug trafficking organization, which had ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, exploited the remote location and extended U.S.-Mexico border within the Tohono O’Odham Nation, according to the Department of Justice.
The drug trafficking organization relied heavily on a sophisticated network of mountaintop scouts who used high-powered binoculars, radios, and cellular telephones to guide marijuana backpackers around law enforcement agents working in the area.
Plea agreement admissions:
Beginning from a time unknown and continuing to on or about December 11, 2017, Jose Angel Felix-Ramirez, entered into an agreement with others, both known and unknown, to assist in the transportation of marijuana for distribution for a drug trafficking organization.
Jose Angel Felix-Ramirez, was the head scout for the drug trafficking organization and used the moniker “Cinco.”
Felix-Ramirez, along with Arnoldo Ojeda-Zavala, manned the Pia Oik Hills scouting site. The Pia Oik Hills are approximately 10 miles north of the international boundary with Mexico. Felix-Ramirez would observe the movements of law enforcement officers and relay that information to smugglers via handheld radio or cellphone. Felix-Ramirez had agreed to remain on the mountain top acting as a scout and managing the other scouts in the smuggling chain from the beginning of October through mid-December when the smuggling season would end.
Felix-Ramirez knew that the smugglers he was assisting were carrying a controlled substance for distribution, and he intended to assist them in that objective by coordinating the scouting chain.
Generally, each group of smugglers consisted of five people carrying marijuana backpacks and one foot-guide. On average, each group would be transporting approximately 100 kilograms of marijuana.
Felix-Ramirez would not be paid unless the marijuana backpackers successfully traversed the entire route with help from other scouts.
Felix-Ramirez maintained a ledger that included the names of the other scouts that he managed, their bank account information so that he could arrange for them to be paid, and a list of which marijuana loads had successfully traversed the smuggling route. At the time of his arrest, approximately eighteen smuggling groups had successfully passed through the smuggling route as documented in Jose Angel Felix-Ramirez’s ledger. This amounted to approximately 1,800 kilograms of marijuana that had been successfully smuggled through the route as part of the conspiracy.
Felix-Ramirez was also in charge of designating each scout site with a resupply drop off point. Felix-Ramirez worked with Edgar Raul Arellano-Garcia, and others to coordinate purchasing and delivery of supplies to scouts, sending money to scouts and other coconspirators, and acquiring and providing vehicles to use for delivering supplies.
Jose Angel Felix-Ramirez would contact Arellano-Garcia and others to order supplies. Arellano-Garcia and Adriana Fonseca-Dominguez, purchased the supplies and repackaged them in large trash bags for distribution to scouts. Between October 28, 2017 and November 27, 2017, phone records revealed Felix-Ramirez arranged pick-ups in the Phoenix area and drop-offs of food supplies for scouts operating in the Tohono O’odham Nation.
On November 3, 2017, phone records also revealed Felix-Ramirez requesting a load driver for a vehicle with a hidden compartment filled with marijuana. Felix-Ramirez needed the vehicle to be delivered in Phoenix, Arizona.
Jose Angel Felix-Ramirez directed Arellano-Garcia to wire money to himself, resupply drivers, and scouts in prison. Arellano-Garcia would then direct Adriana Fonseca-Dominguez to send the money via Western Union.
Between October 11 and November 29, 2017, U.S. Border Patrol agents seized 1,967 kilograms of marijuana along the smuggling route where drug trafficking scouts were located. The seizures all occurred within the view shed of scouting sites along the smuggling route and were part of the conspiracy.
The drug trafficking organization delivered necessary supplies to the scouts so they could remain in strategic mountaintop locations for extended time periods. Operation Rocky Top 2 successfully identified and targeted specific scouting locations and those individuals providing support to the scouts. Agents seized approximately 4,358 pounds of marijuana tied to cartel scouts during the investigation.
The defendants were sentenced to prison time as follows:
Jose Angel Felix-Ramirez, 30, of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, was sentenced to 55 months;
Arnoldo Ojeda-Zavala, 33, of Durango, Mexico, was sentenced to 57 months;
Matias Garcia-Martinez, 32, of Villa Juarez, Sinaloa, Mexico, was sentenced to 60 months;
Carlos Erasmo Medina-Amador, 28, of Sonoita, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced to 87 months;
Jesus Francisco Felix-Ramirez, 23, of Tamasura, Durango, Mexico, was sentenced to 50 months;
Carlos Ivan Nunez-Estrada, 33, of Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced to 60 months;
Antonio Ramirez-Rios, 40, of Sinaloa, Mexico, was sentenced to 70 months;
Manuel Esteban Portillo-Avilez, 46, of Chihuahua, Mexico, was sentenced to 60 months;
Jose Orlando Linares-Sanchez, 26, of San Salvador, El Salvador, was sentenced to 674 days (time served);
Douglas Mariaga-Munoz, 26, of Cortez, Honduras, was sentenced to 674 days (time served);
Jose Lorenzo Osorto-Calix, 22, of La Ceiba, Atlantida, Honduras, was sentenced to 674 days (time served);
Jose Nunez-Estrada, 21, of Tamazula, Durango, Mexico, was sentenced to 65 months;
David Jimenez-Perez, 22, of Chiapas, Mexico, was sentenced to 20 months;
Armando Ramirez-Garcia, 34, of Arenitas, Sinaloa, Mexico, was sentenced to 35 months;
Jose Angel Lozano-Raigoza, 39, of Sonoita, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced to 35 months;
Raynard Joseph Antone, 43, of Pia Oik Village, Arizona, was sentenced to 15 months;
Adriana Fonseca-Dominguez, 36, of Chihuahua, Mexico, was sentenced to 24 months;
Edgar Raul Arellano-Garcia, 31, of Chihuahua, Mexico, was sentenced to 87 months.
“This successful operation highlights the importance of our federal law enforcement partnerships and the unique investigative authorities of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI),” said Scott Brown, special agent in charge for HSI Phoenix. “The west desert portion of the border poses various environmental challenges; however when federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement bands together, we send a clear message to the cartel. You will not operate on the border with impunity.”
U.S. Attorney Michael Bailey said, “This investigation exemplifies the value of interagency cooperation and cooperation between federal and tribal authorities. The combined resources and expertise of the agencies involved dealt a significant blow to the cartel.”