Drug Trafficking Operation Leader Will Spend Time in Federal Prison Ties to Sinaloa Drug Cartel

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - Juan Carlos Suarez-Lugo, the leader of a large-scale drug operation with ties to the Sinaloa Drug Cartel in Mexico, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.

Suarez-Lugo, age 55, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine in May 2025. Suarez-Lugo led a large-scale fentanyl and cocaine trafficking operation out of an autobody shop in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Suarez-Lugo and other defendants imported drugs from Puerto Rico through the U.S. Postal Service, as well as from a source connected to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. The investigation included cooperation from several agencies across the United States, including Chicago and Northern California.

Of the 18 defendants, 13 have been convicted of their roles. Suarez-Lugo and nine others have been sentenced to a combined 28 and half years in prison. All other cases are still pending.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the cases on behalf of the government.

The Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force was the lead investigative unit. Other investigative agencies that assisted include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including the Pittsburgh, San Francisco, San Juan, and Philadelphia Field Offices; United States Marshals Service; Homeland Security Investigations; United States Postal Service; Drug Enforcement Administration, the Louisville and Chicago Divisions; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; West Virginia State Police; Martinsburg Police Department; Ranson Police Department; Charles Town Police Department; Berkeley County Sheriff's Office; Jefferson County Sheriff's Office; West Virginia Air National Guard; Mineral County Sheriff's Office; Grant County Sheriff's Office; Hampshire County Sheriff's Department; Keyser Police Department; Northwest Regional Drug Task Force, Virginia; Pennsylvania State Police; Franklin County Sheriff's Office, Pennsylvania; Winchester Police Department, Virginia; Frederick County Sheriff's Office, Virginia; Virginia State Police; Sunnyvale Police Department, California.

Fentanyl has been designated by President Donald Trump as a weapon of mass destruction due to its extreme lethality which poses a grave threat to public safety, even in trace amounts. This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime, and repel the invasion of illegal immigration.

U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.