Trucking company owner sentenced to 25 years for Mexico-to-Chicago drug pipeline: prosecutors

CHICAGO - The owner of a Texas trucking company has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for his involvement in a Mexico-to-Chicago drug pipeline.

Jose Farias, 44, was convicted by a federal jury in Chicago in 2021 on drug conspiracy and possession charges, according to the U.S. State's Attorney's Office. He received his sentence on Monday. 

Farias owned a trucking company in McAllen, Texas, and lived in Mexico when he arranged for truck drivers to transport dozens of kilograms of narcotics to the Chicago area in 2015 and 2016, officials said.

The drugs were concealed in the hollowed-out wheel axles of tractor-trailers during transport, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Farias supervised traffickers who unloaded the trucks in the Chicago area and distributed the drugs to sellers.

The drugs were hidden in the hollowed-out wheel axles of tractor-trailers during transport, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The traffickers also hid their money from selling the narcotics in the trucks while transporting them back to Texas and Mexico, authorities said.

Farias' drug trafficking organization was spread out in several locations, including two warehouses in Naperville and Sugar Grove, an abandoned car lot in West Garfield Park and an auto repair shop in Channahon, according to the state's attorney's office. 

Law enforcement searched these locations during the investigation and seized 130 kilograms of heroin and 45 kilograms of cocaine, officials said. 

Seven other people were convicted as part of the investigation.