Mexican National Sentenced to 10 years for Drug-Trafficking

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Mexican National was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy.

Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 10 years in prison without parole for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

According to court documents, in 2019 law enforcement began an investigation into the drug trafficking activities of a co-defendant. The investigation identified the co-defendant as a primary organizer of a drug trafficking organization responsible for methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine distribution. Members of the organization included Lopez-Sanchez, and several others.

On April 16, 2021, surveillance observed Lopez-Sanchez arriving at a residence in Belton, Mo., in a black 2015 GMC Yukon with Texas license plates. Lopez-Sanchez had arrived prior to an arranged controlled drug purchase by a confidential human source. Lopez-Sanchez was observed carrying a blue bag into the residence. Later that day, the Missouri State Highway Patrol stopped the black Yukon as it was travelling westbound on Interstate 44 near the Oklahoma state line. Inside the Yukon, law enforcement recovered 995 grams of cocaine and $58,601.00.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley K. Kavanaugh. It was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, the Jackson County Drug Task Force and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Homeland Security Task Force

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Kansas City comprises agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Marshals Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri.