Woman, man sentenced for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine from Mexico, USDOJ says

ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Justice announced a man and woman had been sentenced for their parts in a conspiracy to import and sell fentanyl and methamphetamine from Mexico.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, Alba Ordoñez-Ordoñez was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison for “conspiring to transport and distribute fentanyl disguised as oxycodone pills and methamphetamine” in the Atlanta area.

Jose Guadalupe Canizales-Rivera was sentenced for helping her with her methamphetamine operation, justice officials said.

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U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said the charges and evidence presented in court are from a Feb. 17, 2021 U.S. Customs and Border Protection operation in Erlanger, Ky.

CBP agents conducted a border search in Erlanger of a shipment the USDOJ said was bound for Georgia, which contained an air condition unit that had entered the U.S. from Mexico.

A search of the unit “revealed more than two kilograms of a white powder hidden inside the compressor of the air conditioner, which tested positive for methamphetamine.”

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The shipment was supposed to arrive at a home in Norcross, Ga., so Homeland Security Invesitgations special agents and task force officers in Atlanta made “a controlled delivery of the drugs” to the house.

At the home, Ordoñez-Ordoñez and Canizales-Rivera signed for the package, receiving the air unit.

USDOJ said the two then went to disassemble the air conditioner, and agents executed a search warrant at the house.

Inside, “agents discovered over 700 grams of crystal methamphetamine, a mailed package containing more than 4,000 pills with markings like oxycodone that actually contained lethal amounts of fentanyl and drug trafficking paraphernalia.”

The investigation by federal agents also showed that Ordoñez-Ordoñez had traveled to Texas to obtain and transport about 16 kilograms of meth to her home, then manufactured and crystallized the meth in her kitchen.

While doing so, the Justice Department said she exposed her six-year-old daughter to the drug fumes, making her sick.

“Together, we were able to prevent very dangerous drugs from reaching the streets. I’m proud to stand alongside our partner agencies as we work to stop these criminal enterprises that pollute our neighborhoods with their poison,” Acting Special Agent in charge Anthony J. Patrone who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama said. “HSI will continue to work with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle these drug trafficking organizations and prevent them from flooding our communities with illicit drugs.”

On March 12, Ordoñez-Ordoñez, of Honduras, was sentenced to 11 years, six months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

Canizales-Rivera, of Mexico, was previously sentenced in August 2022 to five years, three months in prison, also followed by five years of supervised release.

“These sentences reflect the grave risks to public safety created by drug traffickers who disguise dangerous narcotics as legitimate medication,” Buchanan said. “We are grateful to our federal and local law enforcement partners for their collaboration in helping to keep our communities safer from deadly drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine.”

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