Sales Of Meth From Mexico Thwarted By Federal, Tampa Bay Officials

PLANT CITY, FL — A Plant City man has pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to import methamphetamine from Mexico and sell it in Tampa Bay while Mexican national has been sentenced to prison for his part in Tampa Bay methamphetamine sales.

United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg said Ubertino Zavala-Perez, 58, of Plant City faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

According to the plea agreement, on March 30, Zavala-Perez sold half a kilogram of methamphetamine imported from Mexico to a confidential informant for $3,750. Two days later, Zavala-Perez agreed to sell one kilogram of methamphetamine to another confidential informant.

After his arrest, Zavala-Perez admitted to receiving methamphetamine from co-conspirators in Mexico and elsewhere in the United States. He also admitted to storing the drugs in a storage unit and at his residence in Plant City, according to the indictment.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Plant City Police Department.

In an unrelated drug case, U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday sentenced Evaristo Marin-Dominguez, 34, of Michoacan, Mexico, to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison for possessing and conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Marin-Dominguez pleaded guilty on April 26.

According to court documents, Marin-Dominguez sold a kilogram of methamphetamine to a law enforcement source in November 2020 after a broker in Mexico provided the source with Marin-Dominguez’s phone number. During a later meeting to pick up money from the source, Marin-Dominguez admitted to having just delivered 8 kilograms of methamphetamine and having another 16 kilograms available.

Marin-Dominguez was arrested in Highlands County the following year.

During an execution of a search warrant at Marin-Dominguez’s home, authorities seized almost 4 kilograms of methamphetamine, almost a quarter kilogram of heroin, a shotgun, a rifle, three pistols and various drug paraphernalia.

This operation was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, the Hardee County Sheriff’s Office, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, the Largo Police Department, the Plant City Police Department, the Winter Haven Police Department and the University of South Florida Police Department.