Man sentenced for transporting 20 kilograms of cocaine from Texas to Massachusetts in record-breaking seizure

BOSTON – A Mexican man was sentenced in federal court in Boston for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy. In March 2023, 20 kilograms of cocaine was seized during a traffic stop, along with a tracking device that had been installed in the vehicle by a Mexican drug cartel.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, 39-year-old Erasmo Lira-Mendez was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to 11 years in prison, followed by five years supervised release. In May 2024, Lira-Mendez was convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine (both offenses involving five kilograms or more). Lira-Mendez was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2023 along with his co-defendant, Cornelio Hernandez.

On March 29, 2023, in Littleton, Mass. Lira-Mendez was observed driving a car with a temporary Texas license plate that was drifting across a double yellow line. During an ensuing traffic stop, 20 kilograms of cocaine was found inside a duffle bag on the back seat of the vehicle. A subsequent investigation revealed that a private tracking device had been installed in the vehicle by the Mexican drug cartel, Cártel del Noreste. GPS data obtained from the device revealed that the two men had traveled at least 32 hours from Texas to Massachusetts – with the cocaine concealed inside the vehicle’s doors – to distribute the narcotics in Lawrence, Mass. The seizure was a record-breaking haul for Littleton PD.

Hernandez pleaded guilty on April 18, 2024 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 24, 2024.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Stephen P. Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Littleton Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel R. Feldman and K. Nathaniel Yeager of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit are prosecuting the case.