A top Idaho member of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world's most powerful and violent drug trafficking organizations, was sentenced to more than two decades in prison on Thursday.
Hector Ojeda Manuel Aponte, who was unlawfully in the U.S. from Honduras, was deemed the "number one guy" for the Sinaloa cartel in Idaho. He distributed 40 pounds of meth, fentanyl pills and bath salts weekly or biweekly through the cartel's extensive network, according to KTVB7.
Aponte was sentenced to 22 years in prison for drug distribution, the longest sentence of the six defendants investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Nampa Police Department Special Investigations Unit. The other defendants, two of whom were U.S. citizens, were handed sentences ranging from 30 month to 160 months.
"The United States Department of Justice is committed to eliminating the threat posed by Mexican drug cartels and their distribution of narcotics in Idaho," Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott stated on Thursday, per KTVB7.
"Along with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, we will continue to hold them accountable for bringing poisonous drugs into our state," he added.
