Family heroin ring turned a nice profit in Taos
When it came to heroin sales in Taos County, the Ivan Romero family called the shots.
Federal law enforcement officials believe the family had been dealing drugs in Taos County for 30 years, starting out with Ivan Romero’s late father, and built a virtual monopoly.
According to court documents, Ivan and his brother, Ricco Romero, were responsible for purchasing large amounts of heroin from suppliers in Albuquerque and Los Lunas, who were linked to either the Juárez or Sinaloa cartels.
Other members of the organization regularly transported large amounts of drugs to the brothers in Taos County, where Ivan, 40, and Ricco, 29, would mix or cut heroin with other substances and repackage the product in smaller portions for distribution.
The family enterprise came crashing down after a series of raids and cash seizures in 2016 when the Romero brothers and other family members were charged in federal court with heroin trafficking and money laundering.
The brothers and other family members, including Ivan Romero’s wife, Melissa, have pleaded guilty.
If the plea agreements are accepted by a judge, Ivan Romero will be sentenced to a range of 10 to 12 years in prison, Ricco will be sentenced to 10 years and Melissa will be placed on probation. The trio also agreed to forfeit $431,870 in heroin proceeds.