WESLACO – A fugitive allegedly involved in a drug ring that spanned several states has been caught in the Rio Grande Valley.

Raymundo Aguilar Perea was arrested Thursday on conspiracy to distribute controlled substances charges. He is accused in a drug ring that went from the Valley all the way to Lansing, Michigan.

Federal court documents show Aguilar and other suspects ran the drug ring from 2001 to 2015. The other men were caught a while back and have already been sentenced.

“They were distributing the narcotics, collecting the proceeds and giving the couriers who were from southern Texas. The couriers were working for a Mexican organization,” a U.S. Department of Homeland Security representative said.

The suspects hid the drugs inside hallowed out coolers filled with soda and water. HSI investigators said if they were pulled over by police, officers wouldn’t see anything.

When the suspects arrived at Michigan, they’d allegedly remove the drugs from the coolers and put the money into the coolers and take them back down to Texas.

The alleged ringleader, Merced Alvarado, was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. Prosecutors said he got the drugs near his home in Mission.

Suspects Carlos Ramirez-Zuniga and Jonathan Galvan were sentenced to more than five years and four years in prison, respectively.

The last person involved, Elva Medrano, got three years in prison.