BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Juan Humberto Martinez-Vega, 47, and Giovani Ramirez-Soto, 26, both citizens of Mexico, were arrested and charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribution of, methamphetamine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years, and a $5,000,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Lynch, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, on July 26, 2018, a New York State Police Trooper conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle, with Alabama license plates, driving on Route 20A in the Town of Warsaw in Wyoming County. The trooper approached the vehicle which was being driven by Martinez-Vega with Ramirez-Soto as a passenger. Martinez-Vega gave the trooper an expired Georgia identification card. The defendant also told the trooper he was looking for work.
Martinez-Vega gave the trooper consent to search the vehicle. A NYSP K9 Trooper was brought to the scene. A K9 alerted to several areas of the vehicle and a subsequent search recovered 1,200 grams of suspected heroin, and approximately 421 grams of suspected methamphetamine hidden behind the front dashboard of the vehicle.
Further investigation determined that the defendants were illegally present in the United States.
Ramirez-Soto made an initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder and is being detained. Martinez-Vega will make an initial appearance on August 30, 2018.
The criminal complaint is the result of an investigation by the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Edward Kennedy, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division.
