INDIANAPOLIS — Drug smugglers based in Indianapolis used planes, trains and the U.S. mail to illegally transport hundreds of pounds of meth from a Mexican drug cartel to the streets of the Circle City.
Thwarted by the DEA, 11 drug traffickers have now been sentenced for their role in the major drug ring. These 11 men will serve a total combined sentence of 123 years in prison.
“International cartels have flooded our communities with poisons, using planes, trains, automobiles, and even the U.S. Mail to smuggle fentanyl and meth into our communities right here in Indiana for local distribution,” said Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Every link in this chain fuels the death and misery touching far too many of our families—and must be dismantled.”
According to the US Department of Justice, the 11 defendants in this case conspired between September 2021 and November 2022 to distribute nearly 400 pounds of meth and over seven kilograms of fentanyl.
The operation was overseen by Erick Apolinar Romero, 35, who worked with some of the other defendants to smuggle the meth and fentanyl from a Mexican drug cartel into the United States.
The smugglers used a variety of methods to transport the drugs illegally into the country. These included using the U.S. Postal Service and vehicle smuggling. One of their main methods of smuggling large quantities of drugs was on trains.
The US Attorney’s Office stated the DEA intercepted the drug traffickers as they traveled to a railyard in Nebraska in October 2022. DEA agents ended up uncovering 68 kilograms of meth and seven kilograms of fentanyl hidden in a top-side void of a rail car that had been welded shut.
A few months later in December 2022, DEA agents raided the Indianapolis homes of Julian Islas-Lozada, 37, and Junior Castillo, 36, where nine black PVC pipes filled with 56 kilograms of meth were found. The PVC pipes were stamped with “HECHO EN MEXICO” (“Made in Mexico”).
The same day Islas-Lozada and Castillo, the ring leader of the operation — Romero — was also arrested at his home in Indianapolis. Agents found nearly 11 kilograms of meth and 13 firearms in Romero’s home. Ultimately, police seized 20 firearms in total while rounding up the 11 defendants across Indianapolis.
“This operation has had a significant impact on Indianapolis, Indiana, and the broader Midwest region, resulting in the seizure of hundred-pound quantities of methamphetamine kilogram quantities of fentanyl, and the removal of numerous firearms from our streets. These actions are a big win for all Hoosiers,” said DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Gannon.
The 11 defendants and their convicted sentences are included below:
| Defendant | Charge(s) | Prison Sentence |
| Erick Apolinar Romero, 35 | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances Distribution of Methamphetamine Attempted possession with intent to distribute controlled substances | 19 years 5 years supervised release |
| Matthew Wright, 47 Palestine, Illinois |
Possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine | 19 years 5 years supervised release |
| Julian Islas-Lozada, 37 | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances Distribution of Methamphetamine Unlawful use of a communication facility | 19 years 5 years supervised release |
| Zachary Polk, 46 Vincennes, Indiana |
Possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine | 188 months (15.7 years) 5 years supervised release |
| Junior Castillo, 36 | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances Attempted possession with intent to distribute controlled substances Unlawful use of a communication facility | 170 months (14.1 years) 5 years supervised release |
| Kevin Josue Patino-Romero, 21 | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances Distribution of Methamphetamine | 140 months (11.7 years) 5 years supervised release |
| Alexander Franco-Lopez, 21 | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances Attempted possession with intent to distribute controlled substances | 80 months (6.7 years) 3 years supervised release |
| Jesus Alberto Casillas-Martinez, 28 | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances Attempted possession with intent to distribute controlled substances | 65 months (5.4 years) 3 years supervised release |
| Eduardo Perez-Martinez, 30 | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.Attempted possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. | 65 months (5.4 years) 3 years supervised release |
| Eduardo Abel Torres De Leon, 31 | Unlawful use of a communication facility | 4 years 1 year supervised release |
| Richard Michael Moore, 56 | Unlawful use of a communication facility | 3 years 1 year supervised release |
