Three Head to Federal Prison for Trafficking Drugs Through International Bridge and Checkpoint

LAREDO, Texas – Two men and one woman have been ordered to prison in separate, but similar crimes involving the smuggling of drugs, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez.

Isabel Gonzalez, 41, and Pedro Salas III, 33, each pleaded guilty in June 2017 to conspiracies to import liquid methamphetamine and marijuana, respectfully, while Miguel Angel Bautista-Anguiano, 25, entered his plea in May 2017 to conspiracy to import and importation of cocaine.

Today, U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana sentenced Gonzales to 46 months in federal prison. Judge Saldana also sentenced Salas today, to a 24-month-term of imprisonment. Bautista-Anguiano was sentenced in U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo’s court and received a sentence of 60 months. Salas and Gonzalez were further ordered to serve three years of supervised release. Not a U.S. citizen, Bautista-Anguiano is expected to face deportation proceedings following his release.

In her case, Gonzalez, of Houston, took part in a conspiracy to smuggle 32 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine through the Gateway to the Americas Port of Entry International Bridge II in Laredo. She was driving a 1999 Ford Explorer with the drugs hidden in a compartment inside the gas tank.

In a separate case that occurred at the same bridge, Miguel Angel Bautista-Anguiano, of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, was driving a 1999 Mercury Cougar on Jan. 20, 2017, when he participated in a conspiracy to smuggle 11 kilograms of cocaine. The cocaine was found in the rear quarter panels of the vehicle.

The third case was initiated on March 10, 2017, when Salas, of Laredo, smuggled 103.6 kilograms of marijuana through the IH-35 checkpoint near Laredo. He was driving a 2010 Ford F-150. Authorities soon found the marijuana inside a tool box in the bed of the truck.

All three defendants have been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security investigations and Customs and Border Protection conducted both investigations at the International Bridge, while the Drug Enforcement Administration and Border Patrol worked the case at the checkpoint. Assistant U.S. Attorney José Angel Flores Jr. prosecuted all three cases.