Hobbs Man Sentenced for Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Luis Carlos Bujanda, 47, of Hobbs, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 70 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.

Bujanda was arrested on Dec. 12, 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging that he possessed methamphetamine with intent to distribute in Lea County, N.M., on Nov. 14, 2013.  He subsequently was indicted in March 2014, on that same charge.

Court filings reflect that Bujanda was arrested by officers of the Lea County Drug Task Force on Nov. 14, 2013, when officers executed a search warrant at Bujanda’s residence in Hobbs and seized more than 500 grams of substances that tested positive for methamphetamine and $3,366.00 in cash.

On July 24, 2014, Bujanda entered a guilty plea to the indictment.  In his plea agreement, Bujanda admitted possessing more than 431 grams of pure methamphetamine and $3,366.00 which were seized by officers when they executed a search warrant at his residence on Nov. 14, 2013.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Bujanda also was ordered to forfeit the currency seized from his residence and a Dodge Ram truck purchased with drug proceeds.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and the Lea County Drug Task Force, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Terri J. Abernathy of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

The Lea County Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Lea County Sheriff’s Office, Hobbs Police Department, Lovington Police Department, Eunice Police Department, the Tatum Police Department and the Jal Police Department, and is part of the HIDTA Region VI Drug Task Force.  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.