Hungry Texan sentenced for smuggling meth

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 30-year-old Austin man has been ordered to federal prison for attempting to smuggle meth into the country while eating a cheeseburger, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

Yen-Tsun Huang pleaded guilty Nov. 3, 2020.

Today, U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton ordered him to serve a total of 90 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court noted Huang, a citizen of Taiwan, will lose his legal permanent resident status and be issued an immigration detainer upon completion of his incarceration.

On July 4, 2020, Huang was a passenger in a vehicle that attempted to pass through a Border Patrol (BP) checkpoint. Law enforcement noticed Huang displayed suspicious behavior by eating a cheeseburger immediately upon arrival. A K-9 also alerted authorities to the presence of narcotics within the vehicle.

Authorities referred him to secondary inspection. There, they discovered brick-shaped objects strapped to each of Huang’s thighs. They contained a total of 738.56 grams of meth.

Huang will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation with the assistance of Customs and Border Protection. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis E. Robinson prosecuted the case.