Enrique Miramontes, Methamphetamine Trafficking, New Mexico 2016

A 42-year-old man from Hobbs, New Mexico, has pleaded guilty to federal methamphetamine trafficking charges.

Enrique Miramontes, 42, of Hobbs, New Mexico, pled guilty yesterday in federal court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to a methamphetamine trafficking charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Miramontes was arrested on June 8, 2016, and was charged by criminal complaint with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to the complaint, on June 7, 2016, in Lea County, New Mexico, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Miramontes’ residence in Hobbs, and seized approximately 462 grams of methamphetamine, two firearms and ammunition.

During yesterday’s proceedings, Miramontes pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Miramontes admitted that on June 7, 2016, law enforcement officers, who were executing a search warrant at his residence, found methamphetamine in a shed at his residence. Miramontes further admitted that he intended to sell the methamphetamine.

At sentencing, Miramontes faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. He remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

The case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Lea County Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Terri J. Abernathy of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

The Lea County Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Lea County Sheriff’s Office, Hobbs Police Department, Lovington Police Department, Eunice Police Department, the Tatum Police Department, and the Jal Police Department, and is part of the NM HIDTA Region VI Drug Task Force. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.

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