Grand jury indicts Mexican national with prior heroin conviction for new drug, immigration crimes

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Luis Cabrales-Guerra, 32, was indicted in U.S. District Court here for allegedly conspiring to distribute fentanyl and for illegally reentering the United States following his previous federal conviction for an aggravated drug felony.

According to charging documents, between January and September 2025, Cabrales-Guerra participated in a narcotics conspiracy involving 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 100 grams or more of para-fluorofentanyl. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the defendant's Columbus apartment and discovered more than a kilogram of narcotics.

Court documents detail that Cabrales-Guerra was previously removed from the United States to Mexico multiple times in 2010 and 2011. In 2016, Cabrales-Guerra was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute heroin in the District of Minnesota. He was again removed from the United States to Mexico in 2019 after serving his sentence in that case.

Cabrales-Guerra's prior federal conviction for conspiring to distribute heroin is an aggravated felony, which increases his potential penalty in this case to up to 20 years in prison.

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jared Murphey, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Detroit; Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant and officials with the Central Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force announced the charges. Assistant United States Attorney Sheila G. Lafferty is representing the United States in this case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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