Aaron Leopoldo Aguirre-Gutierrez, a 50-year-old resident of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, has been sentenced to 48 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his involvement in a cocaine distribution conspiracy. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins on January 20, 2026. Aguirre-Gutierrez had previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine.
Authorities reported that between February 24, 2024, and August 2024 in Tucson, Arizona, Aguirre-Gutierrez and others were responsible for distributing approximately 19 kilograms of powder cocaine.
The investigation was part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established under Executive Order 14159. The HSTF is a coordinated effort among multiple government agencies aimed at dismantling criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating both within the United States and internationally. According to officials, the task force uses interagency collaboration to identify, investigate, and prosecute crimes committed by these groups.
“This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.”
The investigation in Tucson involved agents from several agencies including the FBI; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); and Pima County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Petermann from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona led the prosecution.
Further details about this case can be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office website for the District of Arizona at http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/.
