SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for smuggling meth and fentanyl from Mexico, the Department of Justice said in a news release.
In September 2023, Ruben Martinez, 22, was driving along Interstate 10 in Guadalupe County when a Guadalupe County sheriff’s deputy pulled him over for a traffic violation.
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The deputy ran Martinez’s license plate, which indicated he crossed the border into Mexico in August 2023, before returning to the United States in September 2023, court documents show. The deputy questioned Martinez’s trip and noticed he was getting nervous answering questions.
Martinez told authorities he was following directions to transport the narcotics from Piedras Negras, Mexico, to a location in Houston.
A K9 search of the vehicle revealed a container of methamphetamine hidden in the fold of a collapsed center seat in the front of the vehicle, the Department of Justice said. The deputy also found a hidden compartment inside the roof of Martinez’s vehicle.
Martinez’s vehicle was taken for further inspections. An X-ray showed the outlines of bundles inside the roof that contained a “white substance” and other “white and blue pills,” authorities said.
Thirty-nine packages were removed from the vehicle’s roof. Lab testing confirmed the white substances were 34.9 kilograms of meth and more than 95,000 (95,417) fentanyl pills in the vehicle, according to the DOJ.
“Fentanyl and methamphetamine have been poisoning our communities and even causing the deaths of friends, neighbors, and loved ones throughout this district and across the nation,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas. “Working with our law enforcement partners to stop the illicit trafficking of these incredibly dangerous drugs is a top priority.”
Martinez will serve 135 months, or 11 years and three months, in federal prison, the release stated.
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