LAREDO, Texas – Edwardo Ramiro Collazo, 28, of Fort Worth, Texas, has been sentenced to 192 months in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today.

U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen sentenced Collazo this afternoon and will also serve a five-year-term of supervised release following completion of that prison term. He was also ordered to pay a $2,500 fine.

On Sept. 22, 2011, Collazo attempted to enter the United States from the Republic of Mexico via the Lincoln-Juarez Bridge in Laredo Texas as a passenger in a taxi. During inspection of a gallon-size Coleman thermos and several bags of candies Collazo had with him by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, a drug-detecting dog alerted to the presence of narcotics. After an X-ray showed an anomaly in the thermos, CBP officers cut open the thermos and bags of candies and found that they each contained a bag of white powder which was later chemically tested and determined to be methamphetamine hydrochloride with a combined net weight of 1.13 kilograms.

The case was investigated by CBP and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Laboratories and Scientific Services. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roberto F. Ramirez.