Young Undocumented Alien Sentenced for Smuggling Drugs

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Young Undocumented Alien Sentenced for Smuggling Drugs

LAREDO, Texas – A 26-year-old undocumented alien from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, has been ordered to prison following his conviction of conspiracy to import methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Eduardo Sanchez-Obregon pleaded guilty Oct. 3, 2017, to one count each of conspiracy to import more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and more than 500 grams of a mixture of methamphetamine. 

Today, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia-Marmolejo sentenced him to 70 months in federal prison. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face deportation proceedings following his prison term.

On July 28, 2017, Sanchez-Obregon took part in a conspiracy to smuggle 7.5 kilograms of methamphetamine. He was traveling from Mexico on a Turimex commercial passenger bus with the drugs contained inside a small suitcase in the luggage compartment. Authorities searched the bus as it arrived at the IH-35 U.S. Border Patrol Checkpoint. He was arrested shortly thereafter.

He has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and Border Patrol conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney José Angel Flores Jr. prosecuted the case.