Four Men Charged With Running Marijuana Distribution Conspiracy
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Four Texas men are in federal custody after authorities recovered approximately 36.5 kg of marijuana from a house in Fort Worth. The men are charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute.
Javier Ruiz-Guzman, 45, Isaias Duran-Duran, 35, Jose Jesus Descarena-Duran, 40, and Andres Duran-Duran, 45 – all Fort Worth residents – made their initial appearances in federal court last week and are scheduled to appear on Tuesday for detention and preliminary hearings.
According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the incident began when an officer with the agency's Enforcement and Removal Operations team visited a residence on East Biddison Street in Fort Worth to serve an administrative arrest warrant on Ruiz-Guzman. Ruiz-Guzman was targeted by agents as being a criminal alien illegally present in the United States and was facing deportation.
When Ruiz answered the door, an officer observed a handgun within the suspects reach and secured it. Ruiz's wife revealed that additional weapons were in the house, including a pistol and rifle. Ruiz then informed officers that he was storing marijuana in his detached shed.
Ruiz provided a key to the officers, who discovered a large black bag containing about 36.5 kilograms of marijuana, wrapped in cellophane bricks.
Ruiz confessed to accepting $1,000 for storing the marijuana overnight, as he has done twice previously.
He advised officers that the drugs were to be picked up by "Isaias". Shortly after receiving a call from "Isaias" that morning, Isaias Duran-Duran arrived. Ten minutes later, Jose Jesus Descarena-Duran and Adres Duran-Duran arrived in a Toyota truck. The suspects were arrested upon exiting the vehicles.
Officers recovered $24,000 in cash, wrapped in bundles, from the truck.
The maximum penalty for the charged offense is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the criminal complaint, Descarena-Duran was determined to be illegally present in the United States.
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