Mexican woman gets nearly 20 years for methamphetamine trafficking

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A Mexican woman was sentenced to 235 months in prison Monday for her involvement in trafficking methamphetamine into the U.S. from Mexico. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Reyna Osorio Martinez, 60, of Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, was sentenced Jan. 23 to 235 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Hilda G. Tagle. Martinez was linked to other individuals and vehicles involved in previous drug trafficking offenses. She was found guilty on Sept. 23, 2011, of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute, conspiracy to import and importation into the United States of more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. The Brownsville federal jury deliberated for about two hours following a day and a half of trial.

Martinez was a passenger in a 2002 Toyota Camry that attempted to enter the United States through the Brownsville and Matamoros Bridge Port of Entry. CBP officers discovered seven bundles of methamphetamine in the vehicle weighing a total of 6.59 kilograms (14.5 pounds). This discovery prompted further investigation by ICE HSI agents. Agents testified at trial that the street value of the methamphetamine smuggled by Martinez was more than $1 million.

Martinez told investigating agents that her son-in-law had purchased the vehicle in Matamoros, Mexico, the previous day. However, crossing records showed that she had entered the United States from Mexico in the same Camry on three prior occasions dating back to December 2010 and that she had done so with an individual who was arrested in Laredo, Texas, with 6.72 kilograms of methamphetamine three days prior to this incident.

Martinez has been in custody where she will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carrie Wirsing and William Hagen, Southern District of Texas, are prosecuting this case.