A Mexican citizen has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for conspiracy to import 28 pounds of fentanyl, disguised as tomatoes.
Angel Amed Gomez-Garcia, 43, was sentenced by a federal judge Feb. 10 to 108 month for conspiracy to import 28 pounds of fentanyl mislabeled as tomatoes, according to a Feb. 14 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement news release. He pleaded guilty in November 2022.
"Fentanyl continues to cause great damage to our communities," HSI San Antonio-based Acting Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee said in the release. "HSI will continue to use every resource available to identify traffickers like Gomez-Garcia who import this poison to the citizens of South Texas."
Gomez-Garcia's sentencing not only holds him accountable, "but serves as a warning to those who are fueling the opioid epidemic," Larrabee added, according to the release.
There is no parole in the federal prison but Gomez-Garcia, as a non-U.S. citizen, "will likely face removal proceedings," the news release said. Gomez-Garcia will remain in federal custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection assisted Homeland Security Investigations in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Homero Ramirez and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Samara Sweet of Texas' Southern District prosecuted the case, the release reported.
Gomez-Garcia is alleged to have tried to drive into the U.S. via the Lincoln/Juarez International Bridge at Laredo, Texas, Aug. 23, 2022, according to the release. Gomez-Garcia claimed he was planning a shopping trip in the U.S., but inspectors found 12 bundles of about 13 kilograms of fentanyl in the rear seat of his vehicle. Each bundle was stamped "tomate."
Gomez-Garcia subsequently admitted that, in late 2021, he brought drugs into the U.S. and took large amounts of cash from drug proceeds back to Mexico on behalf of "a drug trafficking organization in Mexico," the news release said. Gomez-Garcia also admitted that, when he was arrested last year, he was on his way to Chicago to pick up $3 million for the organization.
HSI, principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, investigates transnational crime and threats, specifically criminal organizations that exploit global infrastructure for international travel, trade and finance, the release reported. HSI's workforce of more than 8,700 includes more than 6,000 special agents based in 237 U.S. cities and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI's international work is DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of U.S. law enforcement's largest international footprints.
