Two Mexican residents plead guilty in federal court for marijuana operation

The United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri announced that two Mexicans pleaded guilty in federal court today for their involvement in a large marijuana-growing operation at a federal wildlife refuge in Howard County, Mo.

Carlos Horacio Vasquez-Duarte, 27, and Rigaberto Camacho Reyes, 24, both citizens of Mexico, pleaded guilty to their roles in the operation.

Law enforcement officers discovered a large marijuana growing operation on federal land at the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge on Oct. 25, 2016. Vasquez-Duarte and Reyes were arrested at the site, one mile away from County Road 317 in Howard County.

The grow operation took up five acres and included five tents where marijuana was hung, dried, packaged and processed for delivery.

A U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service agent confirmed that there were 881 plants in the ground and 1,103 plants that had been cut and were drying.

Vasquez-Duarte and Reyes are each subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole and up to a sentence of 40 years in federal prison without parole.