Damaso Lopez Serrano, 29, pleaded guilty to drug-smuggling charges in a federal court in San Diego on January 10, admitting he oversaw the shipment of thousands of pounds of meth, cocaine, and heroin to the US.

The plea comes about six months after Lopez Serrano crossed the US-Mexico border at Calexico, California and turned himself over to US authorities, becoming the highest-ranking member of a Mexican cartel to ever surrender to the US, according to the US attorney’s office.

Lopez Serrano admitted he held a leadership role in the cartel and pleaded guilty to the possession of firearms in relation to drug trafficking. He also pleaded guilty to drug-smuggling charges in a separate case in Virginia. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and agreed to forfeit $1 million in cash.

Damaso Lopez Serrano (Photo: Yahoo News)

His “conviction strikes a serious blow to the leadership of the Sinaloa cartel and its violent drug-trafficking activities,” acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan said. The potential fallout from Lopez Serrano’s cooperation with authorities could ripple throughout Mexico’s narco underworld.

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Source: Business Insider

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