Arturo Tellez-Berrelleza, 32, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment. Tellez-Berrelleza previously pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking offense.
Tellez-Berrelleza is the final defendant to be sentenced in a multi-agency investigation into a marijuana smuggling network.
In October 2015, federal law enforcement officials initiated an investigation into the smuggling activities of a Mexican drug trafficking organization (“DTO”) operating on the Tohono O’odham Nation. This DTO placed heavy reliance on so-called “scouts,” who are individuals who remain on high ground for extended periods of time in order to guide marijuana backpacking groups past law enforcement, and “resuppliers,” who are responsible for providing scouts with food, water, binoculars, cellphones, camping equipment, cold and hot weather clothing, and communications equipment.
During the course of the investigation, law enforcement officials seized approximately 5,478 kilograms of marijuana and successfully prosecuted at least 18 members of the DTO, who received sentences ranging up to 37 months’ imprisonment. On one occasion, a DTO member attempted to hide near a cliff with a 15- to 20-foot drop, then assaulted a law enforcement agent who was attempting to arrest him by striking the agent, grabbing the agent’s radio, and damaging the radio so it could not be used to call for backup. During the course of the struggle, the agent was pushed close to the edge of the cliff.