Carlsbad Woman Sentenced for Violating Federal Narcotics Trafficking Laws

ALBUQUERQUE – Wanda Jo Bunch, 62, of Carlsbad, N.M., was sentenced yesterday afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 33 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release for her methamphetamine trafficking conviction.

Bunch was arrested on Oct. 16, 2014, on a criminal complaint alleging that she possessed methamphetamine with intent to distribute in Eddy County, N.M., on Sept. 2, 2014.  According to the complaint, agents with the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force executed a search warrant on Bunch’s residence where they seized almost 200 grams of marijuana, 92.78 grams of methamphetamine and $4,886.00.

On Jan. 15, 2015, Bunch pled guilty to a felony information charging her with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  Bunch admitted that on Sept. 2, 2014, she possessed methamphetamine in her residence which she intended to deliver to another person.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah M. Davenport of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

The Pecos Valley Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, Carlsbad Police Department and Artesia Police Department and is part of the HIDTA Region VI Drug Task Force.  The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.  HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.