A federal judge sentenced a 54-year-old woman last week to nearly 22 years in prison for smuggling a large amount of liquid methamphetamine.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez handed down the sentence Friday for Ana Luisa Ponce, who entered a guilty plea Nov. 1, 2021, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Federal authorities arrested Ponce on Aug. 25, 2021 at the Hidalgo port of entry after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found an amount of liquid meth hidden in her vehicle that would convert to approximately 167.5 pounds of the drug.
The news release said CBP discovered the narcotic after an X-ray scan revealed anomalies in the vehicle’s gas tank.
At sentencing, Alvarez heard about Ponce admitting to previously transporting drugs for the same drug trafficking organization.
“In handing down the sentence, the court noted that Ponce, who has a significant prior criminal record, was arrested with a very large amount of a very dangerous drug,” the news release stated.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said in the release that the meth had an estimated street value of $1.4 million.
