McALLEN, Texas — A south Texas man was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for importing 25 bricks of meth following an investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with help from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Juan Adame II, 27, of Brownsville, was sentenced by a federal judge on June 7 to serve to 57 months in federal prison immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence Adame had an integral role in smuggling illegal narcotics into the United States. In handing down the sentence, the court noted traffickers could not succeed without the willing participation of transporters like Adame. Adame pleaded guilty March 11, 2022.
“HSI stands committed to keeping addictive drugs like methamphetamine off the streets of South Texas,” said HSI Rio Grande Valley Deputy Special Agent in Charge Mark Lippa. “Today’s sentence not only holds Mr. Adame accountable for his crimes but serves as a warning to those traffickers who are contributing to the drug crisis in America. HSI will continue to work tirelessly to identify, arrest and prosecute those involved in trafficking this poison to keep our communities safe.”
According to court documents, on April 8, 2021, Adame claimed he had no illegal drugs in his vehicle when arriving at the Progresso Port of Entry. Authorities referred him to secondary inspection, where a K-9 alerted to the odor of narcotics. A subsequent search revealed 25 bricks of meth, weighing approximately 24 kilograms and hidden in compartments within the vehicle’s wheel wells. The meth had an estimated street value of approximately $60,000.
At the time of his plea, Adame admitted he knew he was smuggling narcotics and had done so on multiple occasions.
Adame remains in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Theodore Parran III, prosecuted the case.
About HSI
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, 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 consists of over 10,000 employees, assigned to 235 offices within the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI's international presence represents the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.