Federal indictments in St. Louis-linked cocaine trafficking ring
ST. LOUIS – Five Texas residents have been indicted for their roles in a conspiracy to smuggle cocaine from Mexico to Texas and then St. Louis.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said four of the men were arrested in the St. Louis area, while the fifth was taken into custody in Texas.
A superseding indictment alleges the five men, and two others, participated in the cocaine conspiracy from October 2024 to July 2025.
Stanford “Stan” Times, 36; Vincent “Lil V” Woods, 38; Rene Garcia, 47; Grant “50” Berry; and Nabor Deleon, 34, were each charged with one count of cocaine conspiracy and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Arturo Villalobos, 33, has been in custody since April. He was charged April 30 with one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine as part of the original indictment. He’s also been charged with a second possession count, along with Berry and Deleon. Christopher Taylor, 35; Terry Smith, 49; and Wally Burciaga, 30, each face one count of cocaine conspiracy.
Federal prosecutors said Villalobos was caught with a duffel bag containing 19 kilograms of cocaine—nearly 42 pounds—as well as $100,000 in cash. He allegedly traveled across the country making drug deliveries and collecting payments. He had recently come to St. Louis collect money for a prior cocaine shipment.
Barry was caught with 13 kilograms of cocaine—more than 28 pounds. He would supply Woods and Times, who distributed the drugs to Taylor and Smith, according to the indictment.
Burciaga, whom authorities identified as an escaped federal inmate, was the source of the supply of cocaine in Mexico. Garcia and Deleon acted as truck drivers who would transport the drugs, prosecutors said.
In addition, a man who purchased cocaine from Taylor was the target of a shooting on Interstate 55 in St. Louis on Nov. 23, 2024. The shooting resulted in the death of Colin Brown, an innocent bystander who was struck by a stray bullet while riding in a car with his father after a hockey game.
