Claudio Garcia-Morales
INDIANAPOLIS — Two local residents who federal authorities say had ties to a Mexican drug cartel once run by notorious leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman have agreed to plead guilty to charges related to an alleged conspiracy to transport drugs from the U.S.-Mexico border and distribute them in Bartholomew County and elsewhere.
Claudio Garcia-Morales of Columbus agreed to plead guilty on Aug. 14 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
The plea agreement comes weeks after Victor Vazquez-Hernandez of Seymour agreed to plead guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, court records show.
Victor Vazquez-Hernandez
The government has recommended that Vazquez-Hernandez be sentenced to no more than 12.5 years in prison, while authorities have recommended that Garcia-Morales’ sentence be “at the low end of the guidelines range,” which is anywhere between 10 years and life in prison, according to the plea agreement.
Federal authorities allege that the two men were part of a drug trafficking network that used a number of couriers and mailing companies to transport methamphetamine and other substances from the U.S.-Mexico border to Indianapolis.
From there, the drugs would be handed off to other individuals to distribute in other areas of central and southern Indiana, including Bartholomew and Jackson Counties, according to federal authorities.
Garcia-Morales and Vazquez-Hernandez would receive drugs from the alleged leaders of the network and then distribute them to others for a profit, according to court filings.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials told The Republic last year that the members of the drug trafficking ring were “some of the biggest suppliers” of drugs in Bartholomew and Jackson Counties – including methamphetamine and fentanyl – and had ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, which experts say controls a wholesale distribution network in the U.S. and elsewhere to get drugs into the hands of local street dealers.
The charges stem from an investigation launched by the DEA in 2021, court records state. Over the course of the investigation, federal agents received authorization to intercept and monitor communications on nine cell phones, including three phones belonging to a Bartholomew County resident.
DEA agents said the suspects would routinely communicate and discuss obtaining and distributing methamphetamine over the intercepted phones.
For the complete story, see Saturday’s Republic.
