EL PASO, Texas — A Mexican national was sentenced in El Paso to 245 months in prison for two counts related to her role in a drug trafficking conspiracy, resulting from an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso.
The Drug Enforcement Administration was the lead in the investigation.
According to court documents, Karla Adriana Votta-Cardenas aka Adriana aka Samantha aka Sophia, 43, of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, worked for a drug trafficking organization led by Jorge Sanchez-Morales, primarily trafficking methamphetamine. The organization imported liquid methamphetamine from Ciudad Juarez into El Paso, and then transported it to Atlanta concealed in the fuel tanks of semitrailers. In Atlanta, the liquid methamphetamine was converted to a crystalline form and distributed.
Sanchez Morales oversaw the operation on behalf of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, otherwise known as CJNG.
Votta-Cardenas served as a large-scale recruiter for the drug trafficking organization, recruiting drivers through “help wanted” ads on social media. Votta-Cardenas recruited more than 20 drivers using this method, withholding the fact that they would be trafficking drugs. Votta-Cardenas was arrested by Mexican authorities and extradited to the United States from Mexico on Nov. 1, 2023.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Spitzer and Nathan Brown prosecuted the case.
About HSI
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the 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 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 DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.