SAN DIEGO, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — A man was sentenced in federal court Friday for his role in a drug trafficking organization that employed college-age drivers to import narcotics into the U.S. from Mexico.
According to the U.S. attorney Tara McGrath’s office, Fernando Castro Bazan, 32, was involved in hiring drivers as young as 18 years old to transport large quantities of methamphetamine through the southern border.
Castro Bazan, also known as “Benji” or “Benji Banks,” used his status as a club promoter and amateur musician to hire numerous young adult drivers. As explained by the attorney’s office, he would lure prospective transporters by convincing them it was “easy money” and also offer “all-expenses-paid” trips to Mexico.
For some of his hired drivers, it turned out to be too good to be true. Many of them were arrested at the border and convicted of felony drug trafficking.
During Friday’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta said that Castro Bazan had a “catastrophic and terrible impact on the lives of young people — teenagers — who had the misfortune to come across his path.”
U.S. attorney McGrath commented on the case, stating, “Not only did this defendant import staggering amounts of a deadly drug into our community, he took advantage of vulnerable young people who failed to appreciate the tremendous risk involved. He turned college-age kids into traffickers and will serve a significant sentence for it.”
Castro Bazan was handed a 12-year prison sentence for his role in this drug trafficking organization. He is also facing additional drug charges in the Eastern District of California for his role in a distribution conspiracy.
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