Mexican Drug Tunnel Makers Sentenced
 Associated Press
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Mexico City - Four suspected drug traffickers were sentenced to up to 16 years in prison for digging and operating a tunnel between the U.S. and Mexico, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Rigoberto Gaxiola Medina, whom authorities say is linked to the Sinaloa drug cartel, was convicted and sentenced to 11 years for ordering the construction of the 330-yard-long, 2-yard-wide tunnel, which led from a house in Nogales, Mexico to a house in Nogales, Arizona, the federal Attorney General's Office said in a statement.
The tunnel was equipped with rails on which the suspects moved drugs stashed in gondola-like cars, authorities said. Some of the drugs were later confiscated by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, the statement said.
Roque Duarte Munoz, who was in charge of receiving the drugs on the U.S. side, and Juan Francisco Quintero Arce, who was responsible for transporting the drugs through the tunnel, also received 11 years in prison, the statement said.
Armando "The Wizard" Aguirre Cardona, who gave orders to Duarte Munoz, was convicted of organized crime and illegal arms possession charges, the statement said. He was sentenced to 16 and a half years in prison. |
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News Around the Republic of Mexico | February 2008 
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