"As an employee of the popular Chinese food chain living in Mexico, Salamanca-Benitez was "in the throes of a gambling addiction" and struggling to make ends meet, his attorney wrote in court filings. His solution was to broker several high-end methamphetamine deals over the phone, leading to a drug courier taking a total of 30 pounds of the drug to an undercover DEA agent in San Jose and Redwood City, court records show."
"The 2021 undercover drug bust came with major repercussions to Salamanca-Benitez, who was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison earlier this month. Court records say he was arrested in 2022, after coming into the United States through Southern California, then brought to San Jose to face federal charges. He pleaded guilty to a federal methamphetamine trafficking offense earlier this year."
Jesus Salamanca-Benitez, 31, brokered several high-end methamphetamine deals while living in Mexico and working at Panda Express. A 2021 undercover operation led to a courier delivering a total of 30 pounds of methamphetamine to undercover DEA agents in San Jose and Redwood City. Salamanca-Benitez was arrested in 2022 after entering the United States and pleaded guilty to federal methamphetamine trafficking charges. Prosecutors tied him to an organization linked to the Nueva Plaza Cartel and referenced a prior Washington conviction involving similar allegations. Defense counsel characterized him as desperate and struggling with a gambling addiction.
Read at The Mercury News
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