A Matamoros woman has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison for attempting to smuggle 23.63 pounds of cocaine into Mexico from the United States.
Rosa Maria Perez, age unknown, told authorities she was smuggling the cocaine to repay a debt for a previous cocaine load that was intercepted by Donna authorities, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Perez pleaded guilty on Aug. 30 to one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 23.63 pounds of cocaine.
She appeared Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera Jr., who ordered her to spend 30 months in federal prison to be followed by two years of supervised release.
According to the federal criminal complaint, Perez, on May 11, 2022, tried to cross into the U.S. from Mexico through a vehicle lane at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville.
Perez was referred to a secondary inspection area where U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found 10 bundles hidden inside a false compartment in the glove compartment of a white Ford Expedition she was driving, the federal criminal complaint reads.
The bundles tested positive for cocaine and weighed 10.74 kilograms or 23.63 pounds.
According to the federal criminal complaint, Perez admitted to knowingly and intentionally transporting the cocaine from Mexico into the U.S. and that it was to be delivered to an unknown person in the United States.
“Perez admitted she was repaying the debt for a previous cocaine load that was intercepted by law enforcement in Donna, where her boyfriend was arrested,” the federal criminal complaint reads.
A record check on Perez’s boyfriend revealed that he was arrested for possession of cocaine that was concealed in a vehicle he was trying to cross at the Donna Port of Entry, the federal criminal complaint states.
No other information on her boyfriend was included in the federal criminal complaint.
