CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS (AP) -- A South Texas man has been sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison in a drug smuggling case linked to fishing boats.

A federal judge in Corpus Christi on Wednesday sentenced 40-year-old Julio Alberto Chapa. Chapa in May  pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle marijuana.

Prosecutors say the 40-year-old Corpus Christi man led a group that used boats to smuggle marijuana from Mexico.

Chapa was arrested March 5 when a Corpus Christi police officer noticed two trucks and a van on the beach. Investigators say the officer saw a boat nearby and bundles being put into the van.

Officials later determined the confiscated bundles contained marijuana.

Chapa, who owned the vehicles, was among several people arrested.

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