An MS-13 gang member admitted in court Monday that he oversaw the trafficking of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine to New Jersey while he served time in a California prison for a different crime, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Luis “Lagrima” Calderon of Los Angeles pleaded guilty to several crimes, including using cellphones smuggled into Calipatria State Prison to direct gang members outside the prison to ship drugs in an empty Little Debbie Swiss Rolls box to a business center in Edison, N.J.
The 32-year-old man was charged with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute all three narcotics to a fellow MS-13 member, ICE said in a press release.
While Calderone was in prison from August 2015 through November 2015, he used multiple contraband cellphones to work with friends on the outside to ship product to New Jersey. It’s not clear where the shipment originated.
ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations officers learned of the conspiracy by listening in on Calderon’s business calls.
Calderon asked his comrades on the outside to pack, send, and distribute the 12 ounces of drugs, worth $9,000 in street value. In one phone call, Calderon shared the tracking number and amount of money his partner could keep from the profits of selling the items.
On Nov. 4, 2015, federal investigators tracking the shipment intercepted the smuggled drugs.
The gang member faces to life in prison and a $10 million fine for the federal charges. U.S. Magistrate Joseph A. Dickson of Newark will sentence Calderon on June 25.
