A Mexican national and high-ranking, violent member of the Los Zetas cartel pleaded guilty today to conspiring to manufacture and distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana destined for the United States.
According to court documents, Jaime Gonzalez-Duran, also known as Hummer, 49, was an original member of Los Zetas, a drug trafficking organization comprised of former Mexican military officers that began as an armed militaristic wing of the Gulf Cartel. Los Zetas later formed an alliance with the Gulf Cartel, and they collectively operated under the name “The Company.” Gonzalez-Duran, a high-ranking member of Los Zetas, served as a plaza boss in the city of Miguel Aleman, Mexico, controlling the Company’s drug-trafficking activities in and through that area, and, later, as a regional commander in the cities of Nuevo Laredo, Miguel Aleman, and Reynosa, Mexico, supervising dozens of Los Zetas members in the region. In his roles, Gonzalez-Duran bribed law enforcement officers to ensure drug loads would not be disturbed; maintained weapons, explosives, and ammunitions caches; and committed acts of violence against rival drug trafficking groups during conflicts for control over drug plazas and trafficking routes. Gonzalez-Duran was personally responsible for the importation into the United States of more than 450 kilograms of cocaine and 90,000 kilograms of marijuana.
Gonzalez-Duran pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine and marijuana for unlawful importation into the United States from Mexico. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 6 and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the Houston Field Division made the announcement.
The DEA Houston Field Division investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and October 2022 extradition of Gonzalez Duran.
Trial Attorneys Tara Arndt and Jayce Born and Acting Deputy Chief Melanie Alsworth of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the case.
The case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug trafficking organizations and other criminal networks that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strength of federal, state, and local enforcement agencies.