Mexican National Facing Federal Drug Charge Following Ten Pound Methamphetamine Seizure at U.S. Border Patrol Checkpoint North of Las Cruces

ALBUQUERQUE – This morning, a U.S. Magistrate Judge sitting in Las Cruces, N.M., found probable cause to support a criminal complaint charging Mario Javier Jauregui-Alvidrez, 43, a Mexican national, with a methamphetamine trafficking offense arising out of the seizure of ten pounds of methamphetamine at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in southern New Mexico on July 16, 2018.  Jauregui-Alvidrez was remanded into custody pending trial, which has yet to be scheduled.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Jauregui-Alvidrez on July 16, 2018, after seizing approximately 4.5 kilograms (10.1 pounds) of methamphetamine allegedly concealed in Jauregui-Alvidrez’s vehicle.  According to the criminal complaint, the agents allegedly found the methamphetamine while inspecting Jauregui-Alvidrez’s vehicle at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 25 north of Las Cruces, in Dona Ana County, N.M.

If convicted of the charges in the criminal complaint, Jauregui-Alvidrez faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison, and will be deported after serving his term of incarceration.  Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol and the Las Cruces office of the DEA.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah M. Davenport of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.