Mexican cartel member pleads guilty to meth conspiracy that included drug shipments to East TN

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Mexican man who helped an armed cartel that transported cocaine and meth into the United States pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Knoxville.

Jesus Heriberto Barragan Chavez admitted conspiring to import 500 grams or more of the drug and faces at least 10 years in prison. He could also be fined up to $10 million.

It will be up to U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan to impose the sentence after a preliminary investigation. Sentencing is scheduled for January 30.

Barragan Chavez was held at an unknown location.

Barragan Chavez, known as “Wero,” was arrested in Houston in August 2023 in the case. The charges against him were dropped Friday when he appeared in court before U.S. District Judge Chuck Atchley.

According to federal records, Barragan Chavez and his family members were involved in a cartel in Mexico that shipped large quantities of meth and cocaine to the United States.

Barragan Chavez's duties included obtaining weapons, paying “armed fighters” hired by drug traffickers to fight a rival cartel and supplying ammunition “at the request of the drug trafficking organization's leadership,” it said the records.

The group routinely produced hundreds of kilos of meth for distribution in the United States. Records show it was used to finance a meth production center in Michoacan, Mexico.

As a result of Barragan Chavez's work, meth shipments ended up in East Tennessee.

His plea agreement also applies to Jose Antonio Arroyo Ortuno, who pleaded guilty in April in federal court in Knoxville to a meth conspiracy and was sentenced to just under seven years in prison.

A shipment coordinated by Arroyo included over 900 kilograms of meth that was seized in Atlanta in March 2020, records say.

“Others working with Arroyo drove additional methamphetamine supplied by Arroyo to the Eastern District of Tennessee, where it was seized by law enforcement,” Barragan Chavez’s plea agreement states.

As part of his sentence, Barragan Chavez agreed to forfeit $100,000, the documents say.