A federal grand jury Friday returned an indictment charging 15 people with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine in Kansas.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the defendants allegedly intentionally conspired to distribute cocaine
in the state of Kansas and elsewhere between January 2019 and September 2021.

The defendants include Santiago Gamboa-Saenz, 34, Maria Cota, 32, Efrain Garcia-Perez, 37,
Dimas Calixto-Filho, 41, Juan Avarez-Perez, 35, Bryan Dominguez-Green, 20, Irlanda Grajeda, 31,
Vladimir Blanco-Garciga, 49, Miguel Vazquez-Rodriguez, 35, Eduardo Ramirez-Ochoa, 32, Jesus
Gonzalez-Rodriguez, 30, Homero Baca-Marquez, 23, Jaime Ocampo, 57, Jose Cera-Acosta, 35, and
Frank De La Cruz, 36.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Kansas City and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Northeast Kansas Drug Task Force are investigating the case.

“Drug trafficking organizations are all about making money,” said Assistant Agent in Charge Rogeana Patterson-King, DEA lead for the state of Kansas. “This joint federal and state investigation stopped more than a million dollars’ worth of cocaine from reaching our communities, and more than $730,000 of proceeds from returning to the organization. This is particularly satisfying because this illegal industry jeopardizes public safety with these dangerous drugs.”

“HSI special agents, working with their state and federal law enforcement partners, were able to prevent a substantial amount of dangerous narcotics from reaching the streets and jeopardizing the safety of people who live there,” said HSI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Katherine Greer.

“Our communities are safer when we, law enforcement officers and individuals in the communities
we serve, work together collectively to end drug trafficking in our neighborhoods.”

This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF)
investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money
launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using