DRUG COURIER SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON

PHOENIX – On April 11, 2012, Amado Cabrera Jr., 30, of Yuma, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Justin L. Quackenbush to 120 months imprisonment (10 years). On Jan. 17, 2012, Cabrera pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute 500 grams or more of Methamphetamine.

“This substantial sentence for a drug courier should deter those who consider engaging in this type of criminal conduct,” said Ann Birmingham Scheel, Acting United States Attorney. “Those approached by Drug Trafficking Organizations to smuggle drugs into the United States will have to weigh the small monetary reward against the huge risk to their personal liberty.”

“Methamphetamine is a vile drug that destroys lives and devastates communities,” said Matt Allen, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Arizona.  “HSI special agents continue to work vigilantly with our law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle those drug trafficking groups who attempt to bring this poison across our border and into our neighborhoods.”

On May 27, 2011, Cabrera, a United States citizen, applied for entry at the Port of Entry at San Luis, Ariz. Cabrera was driving a 2004 Chevy Avalanche. A canine alerted CBP (Customs and Border Protection) Officers to the cargo compartment of the vehicle and a search revealed 20 packages in a non-factory compartment. The aggregate weight of the packages was 10.05 kg. A subsequent lab analysis found that the packages contained a mixture of 99.9% pure methamphetamine, with a net weight of 8.867 kg.

The investigation in this case was conducted by ICE Homeland Security Investigations and assisted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Howard D. Sukenic and Kiyoko Patterson, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-11-01105-PHX-JAT
RELEASE NUMBER:   2012-092 (Cabrera)

# # #

For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/