Federal agents have charged a husband and wife with trafficking nearly 140 pounds of methamphetamine.
Homeland Security Investigations special agents arrested Carolina Vazquez-Villanuez, a Mexican citizen born in 1985, and her husband, Francisco Antonio Gallardo-Tejeda, a Mexican citizen born in 1989, and charged them with knowingly and willfully conspiring to import approximately 139 pounds of methamphetamine.
The arrests followed a Tuesday traffic stop conducted by Hidalgo County constables in McAllen. The complaint said constables pulled Gallardo over for a traffic infraction, but it does not specify the alleged infraction.
During the traffic stop, the document said that Vazquez, who was driving a separate vehicle, stopped behind the constable’s marked unit.
Gallardo consented to a search of the 2005 silver Dodge Durango he was driving and a drug-sniffing dog alerted to the presence of narcotics in its gas tank, which is where authorities found the methamphetamine in 43 vacuum-sealed bags, according to the complaint.
During an interview with HSI, Gallardo gave conflicting statements as to whether he did or did not know about the drugs inside the truck, the complaint said.
“Gallardo stated that his wife Vazquez and his father were involved in something illegal. Gallardo further stated that he didn’t know what to say, he had the opportunity to make a little money,” the complaint stated.
Vazquez claimed during her interview that she went with her husband to help a friend with a car tire, according to the complaint.
However, a search of her phone showed the truck’s title. She said she knew a friend would cross the truck, but didn’t know anything illegal was in there, according to the complaint.
“Vazquez then stated that she connected the friend and her father-in-law for the purpose of smuggling narcotics but insisted that she was not involved,” the complaint said.
The husband and wife made a first appearance Thursday in McAllen federal court in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker who ordered them temporarily held without bond pending further court proceedings.
