A Tucson woman has been sentenced to five years in prison following her guilty plea on counts of fentanyl trafficking. Alegria Pompeya Mendoza-Castro, 30, will serve 60 months after admitting to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, as detailed in a recent announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The case unfolded when Mendoza-Castro was apprehended at the DeConcini Port of Entry on April 20, 2023, with a significant stash of fentanyl concealed within her vehicle's spare tire — about 453,000 fentanyl-laced pills and one kilogram of powder. The sentencing, imposed by the U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker, comes as part of a broader crackdown by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force to aggressively pursue and bring down high-level trafficking operations.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the OCDETF Strike Force Initiative employs a "prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach." Mendoza-Castro's case is a product of this initiative's efforts, which coordinate the resources and expertise of agencies such as Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Petermann spearheaded the prosecution. The cross-agency investigation underscores the federal government's commitment to combat a surge in fentanyl-related incidents. A synthetic opioid, fentanyl is up to 100 times stronger than morphine, and its abuse is linked to an increase in fatal overdoses nationwide—an issue public health officials are striving to address quickly and effectively.
