Man, 70, Pleads Guilty to US-Mexico Cocaine Trafficking Conspiracy

SAN DIEGO—A 70-year-old man who prosecutors say ran a Mexican drug trafficking organization that moved “substantial quantities” of cocaine into the United States over the course of several decades pleaded guilty March 8 in San Diego federal court.

Raul Flores-Hernandez, of Guadalajara, Mexico, ran the Jalisco-based trafficking organization from sometime in the 1980s until 2017, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors say Flores-Hernandez, who is also known as “El Tio,” arranged for cocaine to be transported from Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia to Mexican ports. There, the drugs were moved by land into the United States.

Flores-Hernandez was arrested in 2017 by Mexican authorities and extradited to the United States in 2021. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, knowing and intending that it would be imported into the United States, authorities said.