The following information was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Western District of Texas.
As a result of a Homeland Security Task Force investigation, a Big Lake woman was sentenced in a federal court in Del Rio to 288 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, announced U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Justin R. Simmons.
According to court documents, on April 4, 2022, Anahi Sanchez, 28, approached the Del Rio Port of Entry driving a Chevrolet Camaro and applied for entry into the United States from Mexico.
Sanchez told the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer that she and her son, who was also in the vehicle, were returning to Big Lake after visiting family in Mexico.
The officer referred Sanchez to a vehicle inspection, which resulted in the discovery of anomalies in the driver and passenger rear quarter-panels of the vehicle. A subsequent canine inspection resulted in a positive alert for narcotics, and a physical inspection revealed 30 packages hidden in a trap door near the rear driver-side and passenger-side wheel wells.
All of the packages were determined to contain fentanyl, with a gross weight of 18 kilograms. Sanchez was arrested at the port of entry.
Law enforcement determined Sanchez was a regular and trusted courier for a transnational criminal organization and had crossed the international border numerous times in different vehicles loaded with narcotics.
In total, she was held accountable for approximately 130 kilograms of fentanyl for her role in the criminal conspiracy. Investigators also determined she typically transported the narcotics to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Sanchez was named in a five-count indictment on May 4, 2022, and charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, conspiracy to import fentanyl, importation of fentanyl and laundering of monetary instruments.
On Dec. 16, 2022, Sanchez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner prosecuted the case.
