A routine traffic stop on Interstate 29 north of Kansas City has ended in a years-long stretch of federal prison time after troopers uncovered more than 56 pounds of methamphetamine stuffed into bags inside a gray SUV.
Pablo DeJesus Peralta Anguis, one of three men tied to the Kansas City-area drug haul, was sentenced Tuesday to more than nine years in federal prison. The punishment makes him the last of the trio to learn his fate.
Anguis, a Mexican national, admitted possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and illegally reentering the United States after removal, according to KMBC. The sentence will be served without parole.
The case started when a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper pulled over a gray Acura SUV near the N.W. 112th Street exit because the driver did not have a valid license, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri. A search turned up about 55.6 pounds of meth in a duffel bag, another pound in a grocery bag, and a loaded handgun tucked into the driver’s door. The driver and a back-seat occupant fled on foot when occupants got out for the search, but they did not make it far before being caught. Law enforcement has reported large seizures of counterfeit pills in recent years, many of which have contained fentanyl.
The Drugs Were Picked Up In Omaha
Missouri State Highway Patrol documents note prior interdictions on Interstate 29 that produced notable seizures, including a March 5, 2017 stop that yielded eight pounds of marijuana and $5,000 in cash.
Investigators said the group had driven from the Kansas City area to Omaha, Nebraska, to pick up the meth and haul it back for cash. Co-defendant Pedro Alberto Quiroz Ayala told authorities he expected about $2,000 for helping move the load, while Anguis admitted he had arrived in the United States about 12 days before the stop, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.
Three Defendants, Three Federal Prison Terms
All three men arrested in the case are now headed to federal prison. Ayala was sentenced in May to 11 years for possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, the Justice Department said. The third defendant, Apolinar Gocovachi Pacheco, received an eight-year sentence in April for meth trafficking and unlawful reentry.
The latest sentence caps off a case that began with a roadside license check in September 2024 and wound through three guilty pleas and separate sentencing hearings. As reported by KMBC, the combined prison terms now total more than 28 years for the three defendants.
