CHARLOTTE, NC – On Friday, Ramiro Garcia-Valdivia, 33, was sentenced in a federal courtroom to 10 years in prison for various drug trafficking and immigration violations.
Garcia-Valdivia was working for the CJNG Mexican Drug Cartel, and the previously deported felon is responsible for bringing large amounts of heroin (multiple kilograms) into Western North Carolina, according to court documents.
The Mexican national was arrested October 1, 2019, when he was pulled over in Gastonia, after a search of his vehicle yielded more than eight kilograms of heroin wrapped in bundles.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray stated:
“Garcia-Valdivia violated our nation’s drug and immigration laws, and trafficked large quantities of heroin, a poisonous substance that shatters our communities and causes thousands of overdose deaths in our country. The lengthy sentence imposed by the Court is appropriate for Garcia-Valdivia’s harmful criminal conduct.”
On March 10, 2020, Garcia-Valdivia pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute heroin, and illegal reentry by an aggravated felon. Garcia-Valdivia is in federal custody, and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
*Heroin has flooded Western North Carolina in recent years as the drug cartels have gained a serious foothold in the region, due in no small measure to both Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller's and Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden's refusal to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Neither sheriff will honor ICE detainers, effectively turning both counties into 'sanctuaries' for criminal aliens.
