SAN DIEGO (AP) — A former Marine who for years helped smuggle drugs from Mexico to the United States, and even tried to get a narcocorrido written for him to glorify his exploits, was sentenced Friday to 12 years in federal prison.
Roberto Salazar II, 26, was sentenced for importing fentanyl and for criminal association to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl, according to a statement from the federal prosecutor’s office.
Salazar, who pleaded guilty last October, could have even been sentenced to life in prison.
It was based at Marine Corps Air Force Base Miramar in San Diego. Prosecutors said that before joining the military and while he was on active duty, he and couriers he recruited made dozens of trips across the border to smuggle.
Salazar, a San Diego resident, used to obtain cars that were driven to Mexico, where drugs were hidden in their engine compartments. The couriers later took them back to the United States, prosecutors said.
Such activities began approximately in 2015, authorities reported.
By the time he was arrested last year, “Salazar had become so involved in drug trafficking that he was commissioning a Mexican composer to write a song known as ‘narcocorrido’ about him,” the federal prosecutor’s office said.
“In a phrase that Salazar suggested to the composer, he boasted: ‘I wanted to study and become a soldier, but I liked the easy life better,’” he added.
Some of the couriers recruited by Salazar were ex-Marines or classmates from the University of the Southwest, Chula Vista campus.
“This case involved a Marine who was supposed to protect and defend our country, but instead did great harm to the American people by trafficking fentanyl and other dangerous drugs,” US Attorney Randy Grossman stated. “He also betrayed his solemn oath by recruiting other Marines to do the same.”
