They began trafficking drugs for the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG) to the United States but eventually ended up being sentenced in the United States. This has roughly been the case of the Hernandez Zarate brothers, who now face a combined sentence of 70 years in federal prison.
Ricardo Hernandez Zarate, the youngest of the brothers, was a legal resident of the United States, so he took advantage of his status to traffic methamphetamine for the four-letter Mexican cartel, one of the most important criminal organizations in Mexico. However, he did not do it alone; he had the support of Pedro Hernandez Zarate, his relative.
According to the US Department of Justice, although Pedro had an irregular status in the US, this did not prevent him from helping the CJNG ship multiple quantities of liquid methamphetamine. According to investigations, the 45-year-old coordinated the drug transfer from Texas to Oklahoma.
Based on intelligence reports, it was learned that Pedro participated in the shipment of 112 gallons of liquid methamphetamine – with a black market value of more than $9.9 million – to the city of Dallas. There, it was stored in a diesel tank of a tractor-trailer truck and was intended to be moved to another storage point, where accomplices of the convicted defendant would receive it.
However, the methamphetamine was intercepted and seized by police in Gainesville, Texas. This is how the agents could link it to the CJNG shipments. As part of the investigation, it was determined that Pedro was supported by Ricardo, 33, who was in charge of shipping the drugs from Dallas to other U.S. cities.
The merchandise that Pedro and Ricardo Hernández Zárate moved in the United States was known as “shaved ice,” one of the many names for crystal methamphetamine. It is worth remembering that in the early 2000s, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) implemented the operation known as “Operation Shaved Ice” to remove this illegal substance from the streets of Hawaii.
As a result of that seizure (which led to the Hernandez Zarate brothers’ downfall), Pedro and Ricardo were charged in a criminal complaint in March 2021 not only for trafficking drugs for the CJNG but also for laundering money for that criminal organization.
As a result, Ricardo pleaded guilty in February 2022 to both charges, for which he was sentenced in November of that year to 40 years in federal prison (20 for conspiracy to traffic cocaine and another 20 for money laundering). Soon after, his brother would have the same fate.
Faced with his relative’s situation, Pedro pleaded guilty to U.S. authorities in November 2021 solely for possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it. However, it was not until last Thursday, February 9, that he was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, as announced by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leigha Simonton.
“The FBI successfully disrupted the illegal activities of individuals affiliated with CJNG. Removing large quantities of methamphetamine from our streets makes our communities safer from deadly narcotics,” said FBI Special Agent James J. Dwyer.
As a result of these methamphetamine shipments, eight other individuals allegedly linked to the Zarate brothers’ cell, identified as Benito Diaz Hernandez, Marcos Garcia Reyes, Rafael Diaz, Jose Alberto Plascencia Torres, Heleodoro Rosales Ramirez, Salvador Antonio Martinez, Walter Daniel Chapa Marty, and Uriel Marin Gaona, have been charged. All of them have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing in the US.