WOMAN FACING FEDERAL DRUG TRAFFICKING CHARGE ARISING OUT OF DEA SEIZURE OF 18 POUNDS OF FENTANYL IN NEW MEXICO

WOMAN FACING FEDERAL DRUG TRAFFICKING CHARGE ARISING

OUT OF DEA SEIZURE OF 18 POUNDS OF FENTANYL IN NEW MEXICO

            ALBUQUERQUE – A U.S. Magistrate Judge sitting in Albuquerque, N.M., found probable cause to support a criminal complaint charging Daniela Cota-Guitimea, with a fentanyl trafficking offense.  The charge arises from a DEA seizure of approximately 18.144 pounds of fentanyl in Albuquerque on April 16, 2019.  Cota-Guitimea was remanded into custody pending trial based on judicial findings that she poses a risk of flight and a danger to the community.

            The DEA arrested Cota-Guitimea, 21, a U.S. citizen who resides in Mexico, after seizing approximately 8.10 gross kilograms (18.144 pounds) of fentanyl from Cota-Guitimea’s luggage during an interdiction investigation in Albuquerque.

            The penalty for a conviction on the offense charged in the criminal complaint is a statutory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison.  Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

This case was investigated by the DEA, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Nelson is prosecuting the case.