Mexican Ex-Cop Sentenced for Smuggling Drugs, Guns Across U.S. Border

A former Mexican police officer, Rene Hernandez-Cordero, 52, of Ciudad Juarez, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on Thursday, September 5.
Hernandez-Cordero was convicted in a federal court in May 2024 on several charges, including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, straw purchasing of firearms, trafficking in firearms, and conspiracy to smuggle bulk cash, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
“In August 2023, Hernandez-Cordero and codefendant Jesus Gerardo Ramos, 53, of El Paso, met at a gas station in El Paso with the purpose of obtaining 20 AK-47 type firearms and two Barrett .50 caliber rifles which would have been smuggled to Mexico,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a statement. “Evidence produced at trial showed that this particular group smuggled hundreds of firearms from the United States into Mexico from August 2022 to August 2023.”
Jesus Gerardo Ramos, 53, a resident of El Paso, pleaded guilty in April to one count of trafficking firearms and is scheduled for sentencing on September 26.
Hernandez-Cordero was identified as a former member of the CJNG cartel, which is considered “one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world,” according to the Department of Justice.
Another co-defendant, Brian Alexis Munoz Castro, 21, also from El Paso, pleaded guilty to both firearms trafficking and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Court documents stated that upon his arrest, the FBI agents found “2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, 300 grams of fentanyl, $6,480 in reportedly drug money,” KFOX14 reported in September 2023.
A fourth member of the group, Maria Del Rosario Navarro Sanchez, also known as “Chayo” or “Fernanda,” remains a fugitive and has been indicted on multiple counts related to methamphetamine distribution, firearms trafficking, and straw purchasing.
The firearms charges fall under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, signed into law in June 2022, which targets unlawful firearms trafficking. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement, this law allows for penalties of up to $250,000.
The prosecution was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) El Paso/Las Cruces Strike Force, which targeted drug trafficking organizations operating along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement.
The OCDETF Strike Force Initiative is a coordinated approach by multiple U.S. agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
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