Alleged 'El Chapo' associate gets 15 years for international drug smuggling

Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday that a former Baja California drug trafficking organization leader has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Pedro Alejandro Rubio-Perez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana.

According to a Justice Department statement, the organization Rubio-Perez led transported more than 450 kilograms of cocaine and 45,000 kilograms of marijuana into the United States from Mexico.

Court filings said Rubio-Perez led the drug smuggling in Baja California between 1999 and 2009. His guilty plea came in April 2018.

Rubio-Perez, extradited to the United States in 2015, was allegedly part of the Sinaloa cartel of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Rubio-Perez was arrested in November 2013 on drug and organized crime charges.

According to the Justice Department, Rubio-Perez used tractor-trailer trucks with hidden compartments to transport the cocaine and marijuana into the United States. Drugs from his organization were found in Arizona, California and Missouri.

Bulk cash proceeds were also hidden in the trucks' compartments and delivered to stash houses at the U.S.-Mexico border. According to the U.S. government, that money was counted and then transported to Rubio-Perez carrying up to $2 million at a time.