Mexican man sentenced in south Texas to 14 years for trafficking methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin

McALLEN, Texas— A Mexican man was sentenced Monday to 14 years in federal prison for smuggling methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin into the United States from Mexico.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.  This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

At the time of his guilty plea, Cesar Eloy Munoz-Silva, from Nuevo Leon, Mexico, admitted that on March 8, 2014, he drove a vehicle from Mexico into the United States through the Anzalduas, Texas, port of entry, knowing the vehicle contained a controlled substance. Upon inspection, CBP officers discovered several controlled substances hidden within the front and rear seats of the vehicle. In all, agents seized 18 bricks of methamphetamine weighing about 29 kilograms (64 pounds), nine bricks of cocaine weighing about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and five bricks of heroin weighing about four kilograms (8.8 pounds). 

At the time of his arrest, Munoz admitted to having transported narcotics to Houston on nine or 10 previous occasions. U.S. District Judge Randy Crane took that into account upon imposing the sentence March 30.

Munoz has been in custody without bond since his arrest in March 2014, where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Requénez, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.