HSI Del Rio investigation results in 35-year sentence for leader of drug trafficking organization

DEL RIO, Texas — A Brownwood, Texas man was sentenced March 19 for conspiring to import and possess methamphetamine for a drug trafficking organization following an investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jacob Andrew Mendoza, 37, from Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico was sentenced to 420 months in prison for importing and possessing methamphetamines. Mendoza was indicted in December 2020 for one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of conspiracy to import methamphetamine. He was taken into federal custody May 26, 2021, in San Angelo and pleaded guilty to both charges of the indictment on Oct. 17, 2022.

“This lengthy sentence highlights the success of HSI’s collaborative efforts in combating drug trafficking along the southern border,” said HSI San Antonio Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee. “HSI is committed to holding those accountable who recklessly push this poison into our communities.”

“Mendoza was a career offender and the leader of a Mexican drug trafficking organization that set out to profit from trafficking their drugs into our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “Thanks to our partners at Homeland Security Investigations, federal law enforcement has dismantled another DTO and aggressively prosecuted many of its members.”

According to court documents, Mendoza was held accountable for supplying multiple illicit drugs to be smuggled into the U.S., including 56.8 kilograms of methamphetamine along with heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, and “Ice” with a purity level of 99%.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler Fleming and Larry Fadler, Western District of Texas, prosecuted the case.

For additional information about HSI’s investigative efforts, follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSI_SanAntonio.

HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 6,800 special agents assigned to 225 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)