MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — New documents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement allege that Noe Guerrero, a Waco man recently released from ICE custody, has ties to a Mexican drug cartel.
Guerrero was released from ICE custody on Friday Sept. 5 after friends and family paid his bond on Thursday. For weeks, protesters have supported Guerrero, with many saying he was being detained illegally.
You can watch the full video here:
The documents obtained by 25 News are transcripts of 12 phone calls ICE claims were made from May to June between Guerrero and another person the agency describes as the leader of a major drug trafficking organization. The calls detail exchanges which appear to reference drug transactions.
ICE is calling Guerrero a "dangerous criminal" with "documented ties to Sinaloa Drug Cartel."
"We now have recordings of Guerrero-Mendieta appearing to purchase cocaine on six different occasions from the alleged leader of major drug trafficking organization," ICE said in a statement.
However, John Smith, one of Guerrero's employers, disputes the allegations.
"Do you think Noe has any relation to the Sinaloa Cartel?" 25 News reporter Dominique Leh asked Smith.
"No not a chance," Smith said.
Leh also questioned whether Guerrero would be involved with drugs.
"Oh my gosh no," Smith said.
Smith believes the documents aren't accurate and pointed to inconsistencies he found in the transcripts.
The documents show a legend before each phone call that explains words spoken in another language will appear in italics, but Smith said he couldn't find any translated comments in the transcript.
"[The transcript] has got amazing English in it and you know, slangs don't translate very well from one language to another," Smith said.
Smith said Guerrero's English skills don't match what appears in the transcripts.
"He can't speak this well of English, like at all. I mean you can go back to the video I posted online, and he can't speak any English," Smith said.
Smith said he will continue to stand behind the man he's known for eight years.
"I just think they pulled it out of somewhere for another lie," Smith said.
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Below is the wire transcript of Guerrero's phone calls:
ICE released the following statement:
"Noe Fermin Guerrero-Mendieta is a dangerous criminal alien and alleged rapist from Mexico with documented ties to a Sinaloa Drug Cartel-affiliated drug trafficking organization. In addition to being accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2014 and convicted of DWI in 2015, we now have recordings of Guerrero-Mendieta appearing to purchase cocaine on six different occasions from the alleged leader of major drug trafficking organization. Attempts to falsely characterize this violent criminal alien with ties to a foreign terrorist organization as a harmless migrant, despite all of the evidence to the contrary are incredibly dangerous and directly threaten public safety. ICE will continue to aggressively seek to detain Guerrero-Mendieta throughout his immigration proceedings and, if so ordered, remove him from the country to defend public safety."
