2 days ago
Cartel associate pleads guilty to drug conspiracy to bring cocaine, heroin to WMass, Vt.
BOSTON — A Massachusetts-based member of the Tijuana-based Sinaloa cartel pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in a cocaine and money laundering conspiracy that ferried narcotics to the Bay State from Mexico, passing money through a co-conspirator's car dealership in Enfield, Connecticut.
Eber Alain Estrada Palafox, 39, known as 'Doctor,' of Mexico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to distribute heroin and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Over a two-year span, Palafox conspired with a ring of Massachusetts-based traffickers to transport cocaine and heroin from Mexico through California to Massachusetts and New England, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday. The drugs were taken to Westfield, where they were prepped for distribution, the DOJ said.
At least one kilo of heroin from Mexico turned out to be pure fentanyl.
Palafox also admitted to conspiring with the owner of State Line Auto Sales in Enfield — Miguel Betancourt, 57, of Springfield — to launder drug proceeds by wiring money to his mother in Mexico. Betancourt was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison in February 2022 for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession with the intent to distribute and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
In Palafox's case, he faces up to 30 years in prison, supervised release and millions of fines on the combined guilty findings. He also will be subject to deportation.
The case kicked off in July 2015, when the federal government learned that Betancourt and co-conspirators were intent of bringing Mexican narcotics north for distribution in Western Massachusetts and Vermont. He laundered money by both giving away vehicles as payment for the drugs and for wiring drug proceeds through the car business to Mexico.
State Line Auto Sales is listed as dissolved/forfeited on the Connecticut secretary of state's website.
U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs set Palafox's sentencing on Sept. 4.
Read the original article on MassLive.
