Two drug traffickers reportedly admitted to plotting the murder of a federal task force officer, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced.
Authorities say Manuel Garcia Gomez and Jorge Humberto Velazco Larios attempted to plan a hit on a DEA task force officer assigned to their drug case. The identity of the agent was withheld from court records.
Gomez, 35, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in September 2020, and Larios, 29, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
The two also pleaded guilty to an additional conspiracy charge to use interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire in March 2022.
Court records state that Gomez discussed the assassination plot over the phone while incarcerated for his pending drug case. He had also told someone in jail about his plan to “off” the officer for $20,000.
After making the call regarding the hit, Gomez then called his girlfriend and his sister in Mexico to send funds for the hit on the officer. Gomez then allegedly told his sister and girlfriend that Larios would also contribute money.
Authorities state that Larios, who was also in jail, called someone known as “Roberto” and asked him to deliver money to a workshop. Roberto then made a $3,000 down payment for the murder in June 2020. Five days later, he paid another $2,000.
Gomez called his contact outside the jail to describe the DEA agent. He then told the person they could get documents that would identify the target from his girlfriend and sister.
Authorities said the sister received a photo of the DEA agent on Whatsapp shortly after. She showed Gomez the picture during a video call in jail, and he answered, “Yes, that’s him.”
Investigators believe Gomez and Larios are affiliated with one of Mexico’s most violent and powerful drug cartels, Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generation.
“These defendants plotted to murder an officer who routinely risks his own safety to rid our streets of dangerous drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham.
The head of the DEA’s Dallas office, Eduardo A. Chávez, said that drug-related violence not only affects those in the narcotics business but also poses inherent risks to DEA special agents and task force officers who are working to curb the flow of drugs in neighborhoods.
Meacham further said that the Justice Department would not tolerate retaliatory violence against its officers.
“We are prepared to move mountains to protect the men and women who protect us,” he said.
Gomez’s sentencing is scheduled for August. No date is set for Larios’ sentencing. The two face up to life in prison.
