Medrano, Aguilar Sentenced to Combined 33 Years for Drug Trafficking

Erubey Arciga Medrano, a Mexican national, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for leading a drug trafficking organization that flooded Eastern Washington with methamphetamine and fentanyl. U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice highlighted the significant volume of drugs and firearms involved in the operation during the sentencing. Medrano's organization was identified in early 2023, and law enforcement seized over 161,000 fentanyl pills and substantial amounts of methamphetamine and heroin during a series of raids. Meanwhile, former Guatemalan congressman Jose Armando Ubico Aguilar was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for his role in an international drug trafficking conspiracy, during which he facilitated the shipment of at least 450 kilograms of cocaine into the U.S. Aguilar, who served in Congress from 2016 to 2024, pleaded guilty in May 2024, admitting to his connections with drug traffickers. Both cases underscore the continued efforts of U.S. authorities to combat drug trafficking networks operating across borders.