Tomato shipment turns out to be 13 kilos of fentanyl
A drug smuggler drove 13 kilograms of fentanyl marked ‘tomates’ over the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge, also known as Bridge 2 in Laredo, Texas. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report File Photo)
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McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — A Mexican national must serve nine years in federal prison for conspiracy to import 13 kilograms of deadly fentanyl as tomatoes through Laredo, Texas, U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani announced.
Angel Amed Gomez-Garcia, 43, pleaded guilty to the charges Nov. 9. He was sentenced Friday to 108 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez, of the Southern District of Texas in McAllen.
Hamdani says Gomez-Garcia drove from Mexico across the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, to Laredo, on Aug. 23 carrying 12 bundles in the rear seat stamped as “tomate.” However, the bundles were fentanyl.
Gomez-Garcia admitted to working for a drug trafficking organization in Mexico and said he also transported large amounts of cash from the United States to Mexico, Hamdani said.
After his arrest, Hamdani says that Gomez-Garcia told authorities he was heading to Chicago to pick up $3 million for the drug cartel.
After serving his sentence, Gomez-Garcia faces expulsion from the United States.
