A 21-year-old Matamoros woman has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a drug charge.
Melissa De Leon, 21, is charged with one count of intention to distribute 49 pounds of cocaine.
De Leon appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rolando Olvera who sentenced her to 36 months in prison and a two year supervised released term.
De Leon was arrested Aug. 2, 2021 at the Veterans International Bridge in Brownsville as she attempted to cross from Mexico to the United States, a federal criminal complaint states.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers searched her 2007 Dodge Caliber where they found 22 packages of cocaine hidden inside the doors and quarter panels of the vehicle, the federal criminal complaint states.
De Leon said she was going to be paid $2,000 to smuggle the drugs from a narcotics coordinator she identified as Monico. She said the narcotics coordinator purchased the vehicle for her and he told her to start crossing it into the U.S. to “develop a pattern and avoid suspicion from CBPOs,” according to the federal criminal complaint.
In an unrelated case, another Matamoros woman has also been charged with cocaine smuggling.
Frida Michelle Alamillo, 23, is accused of smuggling 22.6 pounds of cocaine at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville.
Alamillo made her initial appearance Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ignacio Torteya III. Her next hearing is scheduled for April 7. She was remanded to the custody of U.S. Marshals.
According to a March 23, federal criminal complaint, Alamillo was attempting to cross the bridge in a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu when her vehicle was referred to a secondary inspection area.
During their search of the vehicle, CBP officers found 10 bundles of what was determined to be cocaine hiding in false compartments within the vehicle, authorities said.
Although Alamillo denied knowing there were drugs concealed in the car, she did admit to smuggling bulk case from the United States to Mexico for a known drug trafficker at least six times, the federal complaint states.
She further stated that she gave her vehicle to the known drug trafficker three days prior to her arrest, authorities said.
