Mexican national convicted in Homeland Security Task Force investigation involving $157M smuggling operation that included drug shipments in produce, charcoal, and fruit puree

LAREDO, Texas – A 30-year-old citizen of Mexico who had resided in Atlanta, Georgia, has been found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth and cocaine into the United States. The jury deliberated for approximately six hours before convicting Wblester Villanueva Echeverria on July 27 following a five-day trial. From June 7, 2019, until at least Aug. 8, 2023, Echeverria and others conspired to import meth and cocaine from Mexico through Laredo and distributed it in the Atlanta area and throughout the east coast. In total, the drug trafficking organization was responsible for importing approximately 10,460 kilograms of meth, valued at approximately $157 million. Evidence showed Echeverria’s ties to approximately a dozen shipments of narcotics concealed in produce, charcoal, and frozen strawberry puree, while he had been residing in the Atlanta area. The investigation began in November 2021 when law enforcement seized 1,184 kilograms of meth and 51.4 kilograms of cocaine concealed in a cauliflower shipment that entered through the World Trade Bridge Port of Entry in Laredo. Authorities then identified numerous other shipments tied to Echeverria and his co-conspirators which included nearly 800 kilograms of meth hidden within a shipment of strawberry puree and over 460 kilograms of meth within a load of charcoal, all of which entered through Laredo. The jury also heard about the vast conspiracy linking Mexican drug importers, a Dallas cell, as well as Echeverria and his Georgia-based co-conspirators. The evidence showed that Echeverria created a Facebook account under a fake name of Alexis Maldonado and that he used that account to communicate with co-conspirators. It also showed he had cycled through numerous cell phone numbers, and was very careful to delete his communications, and tell co-conspirators to erase or delete messages as well. Sentencing will be set at a later date before U.S. District Judge John A. Kazen. At that time, Echeverria faces up to life in prison and a possible $10 million fine. He has been and will remain in custody pending that hearing. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Day, Leslie Cortez, and Thomas Sekula prosecuted the case. This operation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF South Texas comprises agents and officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations; FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Department of Transportation/IRS; Interpol/Department of State; and Naval Criminal Investigative Service with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas leading the prosecution.