Deming Man Sentenced to Prison for Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Flavio Loya Moncada, 53, of Deming, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 63 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.

Moncada was arrested on March 11, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on March 6, 2015, in Doña Ana County, N.M.  The arrest was made after Moncada sold 235.1 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent. 

Moncada was subsequently charged in a four-count indictment with distributing methamphetamine on Jan. 10, 2015, Jan. 30, 2015, Feb. 14, 2015, and March 6, 2015.  The crimes charged in the indictment took place in Doña Ana County.  The indictment included forfeiture allegations requiring Moncada to forfeit $10,600.00 to the United States.

On Feb. 11, 2016, Moncada pled guilty to the indictment and admitted selling a total of 450.4 grams of pure methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent during four separate drug deals.  More specifically, Moncada admitted selling the following quantities of methamphetamine to the undercover agent:  52 grams on Jan. 10, 2015; 92 grams on Jan. 30, 2015; 165 grams on Feb. 14, 2015; and 140 grams on March 6, 2015.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

The HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of officers from the Las Cruces Police Department, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, HSI and the New Mexico State Police.  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.