In a case that began with a St. Paul police investigation, a man pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy to distribute almost 900 pounds of methamphetamine, the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota announced Thursday.
One of the St. Paul police investigators was a member of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office Violent Crime Enforcement Team and another was a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer. The investigators had information that some of the drugs were going to be delivered to a St. Paul address. They found the main suspect’s vehicle in Minneapolis and were able to keep working the case.
Guillermo Mercado-Chaparro, 45, was listed as having a Chicago address when he was charged. He is a Mexican citizen who was removed from the U.S. in 2001 and 2004, and was undocumented when he was arrested in July, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court Wednesday.
Mercado-Chaparro sold a pound of methamphetamine to an undercover police officer, according to court documents. Police followed Mercado-Chaparro and watched him conduct other drug deals. Soon after, police saw him retrieve two large garbage bags from his pickup truck and put them in a nearby Jeep.
Guillermo Mercado-Chaparro (Courtesy of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)
A police search of the Jeep turned up about 250 pounds of meth in the garbage bags and a cooler. With a search warrant for Mercado-Chapparo’s truck, law enforcement found another 630 pounds of meth in the truck’s bed.
Mercado-Chaparro has agreed to be deported after he serves his sentence in the case, the plea agreement said.
Another man charged in the case initially pleaded not guilty, and is scheduled for a change of plea hearing later this month.
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