Brownsville cocaine trafficker sent to prison in Homeland Security Task Force investigation

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - A 27-year-old man has been sentenced for possession with intent to deliver cocaine and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.

Eduardo Rodriguez Jr. pleaded guilty Nov. 5, 2024.

U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera ordered Rodriguez to serve 125 months in federal prison at a hearing Aug. 26, which will be immediately followed by five years of supervised release.

The investigation began in January 2024 when authorities identified Rodriguez as a large-scale cocaine trafficker coordinating the smuggling, transportation, and distribution of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine from Mexico into the United States.

On March 1, 2024, law enforcement discovered an expected cocaine delivery at a residence in Brownsville. During surveillance operations, they observed Daniel Roldan enter the residence, return with a large box, and place it in a vehicle.

Authorities seized the box and discovered approximately 24 kilograms of cocaine. Evidence showed Rodriguez coordinated the shipment, which was destined for New York.

Roldan, 39, Brownsville, and Andres Malave III, 45, Bronx, New York, pleaded guilty in the case and have also been sentenced.

Rodriguez has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, and FBI conducted the investigation with assistance from Brownsville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Oscar Ponce prosecuted the case.

This operation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force 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 U.S. law enforcement toward 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 South Texas comprises agents and officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations; the FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Department of Transportation/IRS; Interpol/the Department of State; and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas leading the prosecution.