U.S. Department
of Justice
Mexican national caught with 9+ kilograms of methamphetamine pleads guilty to federal drug crime
ST. LOUIS – A man from Mexico who was caught with more than nine kilograms of methamphetamine in St. Charles, Missouri pleaded guilty Friday to a federal drug crime.
Juan Manuel Barajas-Magana, 35, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
During a Feb. 19, 2020, traffic stop, St. Charles police found 26 packages containing a total of 9.269 kilograms of methamphetamine, a stolen 9mm handgun and $5,046 in cash hidden in a subwoofer in a pickup truck being driven by Barajas-Magana.
Barajas-Magana’s passenger and traveling companion, Susana Esmeralda Salazar-Amaya, pleaded guilty to the same charge in August and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 15. She admitted being in the country illegally, giving a false name to police and having an active federal warrant from Indiana at the time of her arrest.
Barajas-Magana, a Mexican national who overstayed his visa, faces 10 years to life in prison when sentenced Oct. 4.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the St. Charles Police Department.
