November 1, 2023 – SACRAMENTO, CA – Adan Navarro, 29, of Rancho Cordova, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiracy to import heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl pills, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl pills, and conspiracy to launder money to Mexico, United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. 

According to court documents, on June 2, 2020, Navarro coordinated and received a $20,000 cash payment on behalf of a Mexico-based drug trafficker in order to pay down a multi-kilogram heroin debt and to facilitate future larger shipments of heroin.  On July 24, 2020, U.S. border agents seized a drug load that Navarro partially owned and coordinated.  The load was seized immediately after it crossed from Mexico into the United States and contained approximately 21 pounds of pure methamphetamine, 2 kilograms of heroin, and 977 fentanyl-laced counterfeit prescription pills.  Following this seizure, Navarro and an associate arranged to send additional money to a Mexico-based source of supply to coordinate a new shipment of drugs.

This case was the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Team (TRIDENT), with assistance from Customs and Border Protection, the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Rancho Cordova Police Department, the Citrus Heights Police Department, and the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney David W. Spencer is prosecuting the case.

Co-defendant Lionel Chavez pled guilty on March 21, 2023, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 12, 2023.

Navarro is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Dale A. Drozd on March 19, 2024. Navarro faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10,000,000 fine on each of three drug trafficking counts, and a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for conspiracy to launder money. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This prosecution is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. The Sacramento Strike Force is a co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. The specific mission of the Sacramento Strike Force is to identify, investigate, disrupt, and dismantle the most significant drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) shipping narcotics, firearms, and money through the Eastern District of California, thereby reducing the flow of these criminal resources in California and the rest of the United States. The Sacramento Strike Force leads intelligence-driven investigations targeting the leadership and support elements of these DTOs and TCOs operating within the Eastern District of California, regardless of their geographic base of operations.