Federal prosecutors say the group operated a Mexico‑based drug pipeline that supplied fentanyl and heroin across the Grand Strand before its disruption in 2024.
FLORENCE, SC — Two men have received lengthy federal prison sentences for their roles in a drug trafficking operation that moved kilogram quantities of fentanyl and heroin into the Myrtle Beach area, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.
Prosecutors said 32‑year‑old Federico Parra Lopez and 25‑year‑old Marcos Flores Aquino were part of a Mexico‑based drug trafficking organization that operated in Myrtle Beach throughout 2023 and 2024. Evidence presented in court showed the men were sent from Mexico to South Carolina to support the organization’s distribution network.
Investigators said Parra Lopez served as the Myrtle Beach‑based manager, maintaining an apartment where kilogram quantities of fentanyl and heroin were received, stored, and prepared for distribution. He was also held responsible for possessing a firearm used to protect the drugs at the apartment.
Flores Aquino, along with co‑defendants Miguel Angulo Perez, 22, and Omar Sanchez Aquino, 33, served as drivers who repackaged and delivered narcotics at Parra Lopez’s direction. Prosecutors said the men also collected drug proceeds that were funneled back to Mexico.
The operation was dismantled following a joint federal, state, and local investigation that led to a federal indictment in October 2024.
Parra Lopez was sentenced to 130 months in federal prison, which includes a mandatory five‑year term for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Flores Aquino and Angulo Perez each received 46‑month sentences, while Sanchez Aquino was sentenced to 37 months. All four men will be deported after completing their sentences. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case falls under Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative targeting transnational criminal organizations, cartel‑linked drug pipelines, and violent crime.
The investigation involved the Drug Enforcement Administration, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Myrtle Beach Police Department, Horry County Sheriff’s Office, and Horry County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Everett McMillian prosecuted the case.
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