Leader of Starr County drug trafficking organization pleads guilty in Operation Ice River

McALLEN, TEXAS (ValleyCentral) — A man who headed a major Starr County drug trafficking organization pleaded guilty Wednesday.

Ignacio “Nacho” Garza, 52, of Rio Grande City smuggled thousands of pounds of marijuana and cocaine through the Rio Grande Valley.

“Guilty,” Garza said Wednesday morning, when he appeared before Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane at the federal courthouse in McAllen.

The case against Garza is part of a federal investigation called “Operation Ice River,” which started in June 2020.

For months, federal agents monitored phone calls between Garza and other members of the drug trafficking organization. Agents also tracked smugglers using GPS devices and conducted surveillance in Starr County.

The information allowed law enforcement to seize drug shipments throughout Texas.

To avoid tipping off Garza, federal agents had local police officers and sheriff’s deputies make the busts.

They seized more than 7,700 pounds of marijuana, more than 700 pounds of methamphetamine and more than 130 pounds of cocaine during the investigation, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.

Garza and other members of the organization discussed the drug busts on recorded phone calls.

“It got stopped, it got stopped in Falfurrias,” Garza told another smuggler on Feb. 9, 2021, when the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office seized a cocaine shipment, according to a transcript of the phone call filed in federal court. “No man, outside, dude. I don’t know anything right now.”

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested Garza in September 2021.

Prosecutors also brought charges against more than two dozen other people, including Garza’s wife, Melissa, who served as city secretary for Rio Grande City, and former Starr County Justice of the Peace Roel “Role” Valadez Jr.

“During his post-arrest interview, he admitted dealing with a known, high-ranking member of the cartel in Mexico, which is the plaza boss of Camargo,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Cook Profit said on Sept. 20, 2021, when Garza appeared in court.

Prosecutors also suspect that Garza paid for Valadez’s political campaign.

“Which the government believes was for purposes of having influence within the Rio Grande-Starr County area,” Profit said. “Influence in terms of the judicial system.”

Faced with 16 charges and a maximum sentence of life in prison, Garza negotiated a deal with the government.

Garza pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining 15 charges against him.

As part of his plea, Garza forfeited a Ford F-150 Lightning truck, more than $211,000 and his nearly 4,200-square-foot home near Rio Grande City High School.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 6. Garza faces 10 years to life in federal prison.