By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The secretary of the public school district police department was arrested Thursday and charged with felony drug possession charges after she allegedly crossed the border carrying three different types of controlled substances.
Iracema Guerra Ruiz, 52, a resident of a subdivision located just west of the Del Rio city limits, was arrested Thursday at the Del Rio Port of Entry by an officer of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Ruiz was charged with the offenses of possession of a controlled substance, Penalty Group 3, greater than 400 grams, a first-degree felony; possession of a controlled substance, Penalty Group 3, greater than four grams, less than 200 grams, a second-degree felony; and possession of a controlled substance, Penalty Group 1, greater than 28 grams, less than 400 grams, a third-degree felony.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, DPS Special Agent Roberto Aguirre wrote on Thursday he “received a call from (a) Customs and Border Protection agent in reference to a large quantity of pharmaceutical tablets seized from a driver at the Del Rio Port of Entry.”
“The driver was identified as Iracema Guerra Ruiz. After agents noticed several anomalies in travel and story, Ruiz was referred to secondary inspection. Once in secondary, CBP officers searched Ruiz’s car and found additional pharmaceutical tablets/pills that require a prescription in the United States.
“Ruiz was in possession of 2,052 capsules of Tramadol (Penalty Group 3/923.8 grams), 482 tablets of Xanax (Penalty Group 3/ 136.31 grams) and 150 tablets of Phentermine (Penalty Group 1/42.63 grams). All these are prescription medications and controlled substances in penalty groups,” Aguirre wrote.
“After conducting an extensive interview of Ruiz, Ruiz did admit to being compensated to bring the pharmaceutical tablets into the United States and deliver (them) to a location in the Del Rio area,” the officer added.
Ruiz was magistrated Friday morning by Justice of the Peace Pct. 3 Pat Cole and bail amounts totaling $225,000 were set in the three cases.
Reno Luna, public information officer for the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District, on Friday confirmed to the 830 Times that at the time of her arrest, Ruiz was employed as “district police secretary” by the local public school district.
Luna said Ruiz has worked with the school district police since November 2022 and for the school district since October 2015.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
