A Mexican national living illegally in the United States was sentenced on April 14 to 27 years in federal prison for trafficking methamphetamine as part of a Homeland Security Task Force operation, U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs announced.
Israel Sanchez Arciga, age 48, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute and possess with intent to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine. U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III handed down a sentence of 324 months during proceedings held in Sherman, Texas.
Court information showed that Arciga and others imported liquid methamphetamine from Mexico, completed the manufacturing process in Texas, and distributed large quantities of highly pure methamphetamine within the Eastern District of Texas. Authorities reported that Arciga was also found with a firearm when arrested on July 14, 2023 outside a conversion lab in Rice, Texas where he lived.
The case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative created by Executive Order 14159: Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The task force brings together multiple government agencies to target criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational organizations, and human smuggling operations both inside and outside the United States. Special emphasis is placed on crimes involving children and prosecuting violent criminal aliens.
The investigation involved cooperation between several agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration; Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office; Flower Mound Police Department; Garland Police Department; Hunt County Sheriff’s Office; with support from the Texas Department of Public Service and Navarro County Sheriff’s Office.
