Texas Man Pleads Not Guilty To New Mexico Drug Trafficking
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A Texas man has pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in New Mexico.
Prosecutors say 34-year-old Pablo Alberto Arana-Delgado, of El Paso, entered his plea Monday in a federal court in Las Cruces and was ordered detained pending trial.
He was among 20 people accused of drug trafficking, money laundering and immigration offenses.
A 45-count indictment alleges Arana-Delgado and the other co-defendants were members of a drug trafficking organization that imported large amounts of cocaine, marijuana and heroin from Mexico and distributed the drugs in Albuquerque and other U.S. cities.
Prosecutors say the conspiracy operated in Dona Ana, Luna and Bernalillo counties from October 2014 through last month.
Nine of the 20 defendants are in federal custody. The remaining 11 are fugitives and presumed to be in Mexico.
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