Two Mexican women who smuggled heroin into the U.S. in bags of potato chips were slapped with three-year prison sentences.
Maria Luisa Hernandez-Alanis, 41, and Tania Melissa Coutino-Hernandez, 40, were caught at a border crossing in September and admitted to the scam in court in November. A federal judge in Texas announced the sentences Tuesday.
The women had tried to get through the port of entry at Laredo, Texas. When officers searched their Chevy Aveo, they found in Coutino-Hernandez’s bag two yellow potato chip bags that were sealed but felt like they had heavy balls inside.
Prying open the bags, officers discovered the bundles were taped packages totaling nearly one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of heroin.
The women admitted to Drug Enforcement Administration agents that they were getting $300 each to deliver the drugs. They were then going to smuggle money back out.
They admitted in their plea agreements that they’d smuggled $7,500 into Mexico on a previous trip.
Prosecutors said the women aren’t U.S. citizens and could face deportation after their release from prison.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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