Four Edinburg men and a Mexican citizen have been sentenced in connection with a cocaine trafficking conspiracy.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the four Edinburg men were identified as Martin Vela-Alanis, 60, Arlando Garcia-Garcia, 41, Martin Adrusbel Vela, 36, and Oscar Obed Manzanares, 23, and the Mexican citizen was identified as 46-year-old Jose Santiago Luna-Duran.

All five individuals pleaded guilty on Oct. 5, 2023 to a conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute kilograms of cocaine.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Manzanares traveled into the United States from Mexico in a GMC truck and parked it at a McAllen business. Luna-Duran then took the vehicle to a property in Edinburg.

Authorities saw both men exchange items between the GMC truck and a Ford pickup truck.

Garcia-Garcia, who was a resident of the Edinburg property where the exchange occurred, drove the Ford truck to a second residence on the same property where Vela and Vela-Alanis resided. It was there that Garcia-Garcia removed a large duffel bag from the truck, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said a search warrant was executed at the second residence and recovered the duffel bag. Authorities discovered the bag contained 15 bundles of a white powdery substance. A black and gold Colt Model 1911 pistol and $90,000 was also discovered.

Luna-Duran returned to the McAllen business, where he met Manzanares and authorities detained both men. A search of the GMC truck resulted in the discovery of more than $238,000 in cash, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Lab results later confirmed the bundles found in the duffel bag tested positive for cocaine and had a weight of approximately 15 kilograms.

Vela-Alanis was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison and Garcia-Garcia was sentenced to three years. Vela was sentenced to 7 years, Manzanares was sentenced to 5 years and Luna-Duran was sentenced to 3 years.

Vela-Alanis, Garcia-Garcia and Luna-Duran are not U.S. citizens and all face removal proceedings following their release from prison.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said during the hearing, the court heard how this was an "extensive and multi-level drug trafficking organization that imported and distributed narcotics on multiple occasions" and the organization was receiving shipments of narcotics every 15–20 days.

All five suspects will be transferred to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.

A sixth person also pleaded guilty in this case.

Mexican citizen Jose Bernando Gonzalez-Gomez, 56, was the mechanic who transferred the cocaine from one vehicle to another. He is set for sentencing May 2.