Mexican National Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison for Role in Drug Conspiracy

TUCSON, Ariz. – Sebastian Martinez-Romero, 22, of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced on Jan. 20, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Angela Martinez to 78 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Martinez-Romero previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl and Methamphetamine.

On April 30, 2024, in Tucson, Arizona, Martinez-Romero and others possessed approximately 40 kilograms of powder and pills containing fentanyl and more than 55 pounds of methamphetamine, which they intended to deliver to others later that day.

This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

This HSTF Tucson led investigation comprises agents and officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), the FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), with the prosecution being led by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Petermann of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, Tucson.

CASE NUMBER:            CR-24-2710-AMM-3
RELEASE NUMBER:    2026-019_Martinez-Romero