Valley Central – by Dave Hendricks
Federal agents have arrested two drug traffickers who claim they worked with corrupt cops to fake cocaine busts, according to federal court records.
Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested Mario Alejandro Solis, 37, of San Juan on Friday and Carlos Aron Oyervides, 40, of Houston on March 4.
Solis and Oyervides told federal agents they staged drug busts in Edcouch and Houston, according to the federal criminal complaints against them. Both cases involved fake cocaine.
After investigators seized fake cocaine, Solis and Oyervides sold the real cocaine themselves, according to the criminal complaints against them. Fooled by the fake drug busts, the drug traffickers who provided the cocaine didn’t realize they were robbed.
Both men claimed they worked with corrupt cops. Federal court records, though, don’t identify the lawmen.
Documents filed by federal investigators detail two incidents:
{>} On March 18, 2013, investigators with the Edcouch Police Department seized approximately 19 kilograms of cocaine apparently left in a taxi.
“A further examination of the bundles revealed that four bundles contained wooden blocks,” according to the criminal complaint against Solis.
During an interview with federal agents, Solis claimed he recruited a corrupt cop to handle the drug bust.
Edcouch police Chief Eloy Cardenas said he didn’t recall the incident and largely left cases to the department investigators.
“There’s always new investigators coming in and out,” Cardenas said.
{>} On April 26, 2013, investigators with the Houston Police Department seized approximately 18 kilograms of cocaine from an abandoned 1996 Mazda minivan near Loma Linda Road.
“Lab analysis of the bundles indicated that they contained less than 1 percent cocaine,” according to the criminal complaint against Oyervides.
During an interview with federal agents, Oyervides said he staged the drug bust.
“Co-conspirators staged a seizure of the sham cocaine by corrupt officers,” according to the criminal complaint. “The real cocaine was then sold for profit.”
Federal court records don’t identify the corrupt lawmen Solis and Oyervides claim they worked with.
Neither Edcouch Mayor Robert Schmalzried nor Cardenas, the police chief, said they knew anything about the allegations.
Federal agents charged both Solis and Oyervides with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine.
Attorneys for Solis and Oyervides couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon. Both men remain in federal custody.
Similar schemes have landed several Rio Grande Valley lawmen in prison during the past few years.
Federal agents arrested former police Inv. Noel Pena — who worked for the Starr County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force — in April 2015.
Working through an intermediary, Pena provided a fake police report to a federal informant, according to the criminal complaint against him.
Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa sentenced Pena to seven years in prison.
Former Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office Inv. Aida Palacios worked with her boyfriend, a drug trafficker named Julio Davila, to draft fake police reports, according to information Homeland Security Investigations provided to the Texas Rangers. The documents allowed Davila to steal drugs from other traffickers without drawing suspicion.
Palacios pleaded guilty to unrelated federal drug trafficking charges. U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced her to two-and-a-half years in prison.