Omar Antonio Jaramillo-Meza Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Fentanyl Trafficking
A Sinaloa Cartel affiliate was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for distributing over 133,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills.
2 reports on this incident · first at Aug 20, 2026, 9:45 a.m. ET
Earlier reports
Aug 20, 2026, 9:45 a.m. ETFirst report
Cartel-Linked Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Fentanyl Trafficking
On August 12, 2026, 24-year-old Omar Antonio Jaramillo-Meza was sentenced to 12 years in prison for trafficking more than 133,000 counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, according to court records from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina. Following his prison term, Jaramillo-Meza will be deported to Mexico.
According to court documents, Jaramillo-Meza was affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel, operated under the moniker "El Moro," and supervised a courier network that arranged drug deliveries across the United States. Court records show he was responsible for trafficking more than 15 kilograms of fentanyl pills during the investigation. In September 2024, Jaramillo-Meza pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly and intentionally distributing fentanyl and one count of knowingly and intentionally distributing fentanyl and cocaine.
During the investigation, law enforcement seized 3,000 pills sent to a confidential source in April 2022, intercepted 80,000 blue "M-30" pills heading to Charlotte in February 2023, confiscated approximately 20,000 fentanyl pills in Cleveland County in June 2023, and seized 30,000 fentanyl pills in New York City. Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, stated that Jaramillo-Meza coordinated the trafficking of thousands of fentanyl pills into western North Carolina. Jae W. Chung, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division, stated that the seizures demonstrate the impact of law enforcement agencies working together with a shared mission. Erik Lindahl with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case as part of Operation Take Back America.
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- Version 120 Aug 2026, 13:53current
First published.
- Version 120 Aug 2026, 13:45current
First published.
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