Karla Adriana Votta-Cardenas, 43, will spend over 20 years in prison for two counts related to drug trafficking. This announcement came in an August 21 Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) news release.
According to the HSI news release, Votta-Cardenas, who used various aliases including Adriana, Samantha, and Sophia, is a resident of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. She served as a recruiter for a drug trafficking organization run by Jorge Sanchez-Morales. The organization primarily trafficked methamphetamine from Ciudad Juarez to Atlanta, Georgia.
Votta-Cardenas recruited individuals through "help wanted" advertisements on social media platforms without informing them that they would be trafficking liquid methamphetamine. For the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), drivers transported liquid methamphetamine from Ciudad Juarez into El Paso and then to Atlanta, concealed in semi-truck fuel tanks. Upon arrival in Atlanta, the drug was converted to crystalline form and sold.
Votta-Cardenas was arrested by Mexican authorities and extradited to the United States on November 1, 2023.
Homeland Security Investigations is the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to DHS's webpage focused on HSI’s history, there are more than 10,000 employees of HSI working in 235 offices in the US and 93 overseas locations. HSI was created in 2010 when the Offices of Investigations, Intelligence, and International Affairs within US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were combined into a new directorate known as Homeland Security Investigations.
