Dallas mom caught with meth at Hidalgo port of entry sentenced

A Dallas mom was sentenced to prison for her role in trafficking narcotics through the Hidalgo port of entry while using her minor daughter as a means to disguise the trip as a family vacation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District Court of Texas announced in a press release.

Alma Delia Rios, 41, pleaded guilty on March 22, 2022, to possession with intent to distribute over a pound of meth and has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.

Rios imported narcotics from Mexico on behalf of Dallas drug traffickers, according to the release.

As U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez handed down the sentence on Tuesday, the court noted how Rios would use her minor daughter to disguise the trips as a family vacation than what it really was.

The release states that in October 2021, Rios was attempting to enter the U.S. from Mexico through the Hidalgo port of entry when a K-9 unit alerted authorities to narcotics in her vehicle’s gas tank and door panels.

A search of the vehicle revealed 26 pounds of crystal meth in the door panels and about 62 pounds of liquid meth inside the gas tank, according to the release.

“Law enforcement determined Rios drove her minor daughter along with several friends from Dallas to a hotel in Reynosa, Mexico,” the release said. “Rios then knowingly provided her vehicle to Mexican drug traffickers who hid the narcotics in the vehicle.”

Months prior to the October incident, in June 2021, Rios made the same trip and successfully entered the port of entry with narcotics hidden in the same vehicle undetected.

Rio was allowed to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a prison facility sometime in the near future.