Illegal operates drug ring from prison after cellphone delivery via drone

(File photo by Federico Gambarini/picture alliance via Getty Images)

What a great country America is. The land of opportunity, even for those who are in the country illegally.

And in prison.

An illegal immigrant from Mexico showed his entrepreneurial spirit in operating a big drug smuggling ring from an Ohio prison, aided by a cellphone that was dropped from a drone, Cleveland.com reported.

Not only does the case make a mockery of incarceration in America, but it also highlights the inadequacy of our immigration laws.

Jose Lozano-Leon, 41, ran the operation from Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, where he was serving 18 months for re-entering the country illegally after being deported in 2017.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said, “The lead defendant is accused of running an international drug-trafficking organization from a jail cell in Ohio.”

Lozano-Leon’s operation involved large shipments of fentanyl from Mexico shaped into pills to resemble oxycodone, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

The gang called the pills “Skittles” on phone calls that were picked up on by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Using the illegal cell phone, Lozano-Leon arranged drug shipments from Mexico to Cleveland and also discussed the handling of the proceeds, according to prosecutors.

The gang reportedly dealt in heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana, as well.

“He has come to this country illegally and allegedly made his living selling the same kinds of drugs that are killing our friends and neighbors,” Herdman added. “He is an importer of pain and will be prosecuted accordingly.”

Agents seized over $15,000 in cash and pounds of fentanyl, and prosecutors said ten people face federal charges for their role in the drug ring, according to the paper.

More from Cleveland.com on who was charged:

Also charged were Mario Hernandez-Leon, 31, of Mexico; Clemente Gutierrez-Meraz, 27, of Mexico; Lorne Franklin, 45, of Cleveland; Belen Orozco-Sigala, 36, of Painesville; Najee Amir Evans, 28, of Cleveland; Troy Pinnock, 47, of Cleveland; Damon Bybee, 60, of Garfield Heights, and Montez Vanburen, 38, of Cleveland. Martin said all but two are in federal custody.

 

Here’s a quick sampling of online responses to the story from fed-up social media user:

And, in a fair representation of the debate on illegal immigration in America today, there was the prerequisite cries of discrimination.

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