Texas man sentenced for transporting over 2000 kilograms of marijuana
February 27th, 2010 - 2:51 am ICT by BNO NewsLAREDO, TEXAS (BNO NEWS) – A Pasadena, Texas man, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of possessing with intent to distribute marijuana, prosecutors said on Friday.
John Humberto Garza, 41, was caught with a total of 2,220 kilograms while driving a tractor towing a flatbed trailer loaded with a large metal storage tank. In March 2009, he arrived at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 16 about two miles south of Hebbronville, Texas, but was unable to provide information about where he picked up the tank and where he was to drop it off.
Border Patrol agents became suspicious and referred the truck to the Falfurrias Border Patrol Station for a Cargo Inspection System machine scan, revealing an anomaly inside the storage tank.
The DEA took custody of Garza and further investigations revealed that he had been hired by a man named “John” to transport the tank to Houston for $1,500, where he was to meet someone else at a truck stop and follow him to an industrial yard where the load was to be delivered.
Garza was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison to be followed by a five-year-term of supervised release after pleading guilty to the federal drug trafficking felony offense in May 2009.
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