A former Reynosa, Tamaulipas, city councilor has been sentenced to over three years in U.S. federal prison after being caught with 42.38 kilos (93 lbs.) of cocaine in her vehicle last year.
The arrest of Denisse Ahumada Martínez, 35, occurred on June 10, 2023, at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, Texas. The agents found some of the cocaine hidden below the car seats on which the ex-Reynosa councilor’s two young daughters were sitting.
At the time, the DEA estimated the street value of the seized cocaine to be US $900,000.
Ahumada told the court she was coerced into trafficking the cocaine after receiving phone calls that included threats against her daughters. She claimed an unknown individual instructed her to drive the drug-laden vehicle to San Antonio, Texas.
Despite Ahumada’s claims, prosecutors said they found no conclusive evidence that her children had been in danger. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents testified that she had made similar trips before, including one to Houston.
Though Ahumada initially avoided charges after a federal judge dismissed the case when prosecutors could not prove Ahumada knew exactly what she was carrying in the Mazda SUV, she was detained again at the Mexico-U.S. border on her way back to Mexico after prosecutors in Brooks County, Texas — where Falfurrias is located — filed its own charges against her.
She was later indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury.
In October 2023, Ahumada pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, admitting that she knew drugs were in the vehicle while denying awareness of the amount or type. Texas attorney Samuel Reyes, who at the time was assigned to represent Ahumada in the Brooks County case, told the media outlet Border Report that he believed Ahumada pled guilty because she couldn’t afford the costs of proving that she’d been coerced.
At her sentencing hearing in McAllen, Texas, on Monday, Ahumada expressed regret but said she had feared for her children’s safety.
“I know I should have seen the other options that I had,” Ahumada said in court Monday. “But I didn’t.”
Judge Randy Crane, acknowledging her low-level role as a drug mule, sentenced her to 37 months in federal prison without parole.
Ahumada’s defense attorney in the federal case, Oscar Alvarez, pointed to her history of being a victim of domestic abuse and intimidation during “two very terrible relationships.” He also argued that she had been coerced by criminal elements.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Garcia noted that Ahumada never reported the alleged threats, even though she had worked closely with law enforcement in the past due to her domestic violence experiences.
Ahumada was elected to the Reynosa City Council in 2021 representing the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM). She later allegedly switched her allegiance to the National Action Party (PAN), but after her arrest, the PAN’s Tamaulipas branch said in a statement that Ahumada is not a member of the party.
With reports from El Universal, Reforma, El Financiero and ValleyCentral.com
