Source: United States Attorneys General
Headline: Mexican Meth Smuggler Ordered to Federal Prison
LAREDO, Texas – A 41-year old resident of Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, has been ordered to prison for a conspiracy to import more than 10 kilograms of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Sergio Aguilar-Hernandez pleaded guilty Aug. 31, 2017.
Today, visiting U.S. District Judge Hilda G. Tagle ordered him to prison for 90 months. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face deportation proceedings following the sentence.
On June 15, 2017, Aguilar-Hernandez arrived at the Columbia bridge driving a tractor trailer. Inside the vehicle was a box of aloe vera drinks that were found to contain approximately 10.26 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine.
Aguilar-Hernandez had entered the country two days prior with the same box of aloe vera drinks, but was unable to locate his contact in Laredo. He then continued to Stafford to deliver a legitimate load, picked up a new one in Victoria and returned to Mexico.
Aguilar-Hernandez entered again on June 15 in a second attempt to meet his contact, but was apprehended at the bridge prior to delivering the methamphetamine.
Aguilar-Hernandez has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Moreno prosecuted the case.