EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A federal grand jury has leveled drug charges against a woman who allegedly tried to smuggle methamphetamine under a belly flap at an El Paso port of entry.
Nancy Dominguez faces a count each of conspiracy, importation of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute in connection with her Feb. 7 arrest at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry in Downtown El Paso.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers said they witnessed a man and a woman approach the pedestrian inspection building and proceed to different windows to apply for readmission after being in Mexico.
The male, identified as Hector Ruben Rojas, appeared nervous during the admission interview and began fidgeting with a thermos he was carrying, according to court documents.
A CBP officer asked him what was in the thermos. “Juice,” he responded. But when asked to open the container to see the liquid, Rojas allegedly said it was only ice. The border officer took the thermos, shined a flashlight into it and noticed a bundle wrapped in black tape, court records show.
The officer requested the assistance of a drug-sniffing dog and it reacted to the possible smell of narcotics, according to a complain affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in El Paso.
Another CBP officer had already cleared Dominguez to enter the country, but she remained in the building purportedly waiting for Rojas. Court records show a border officer caught up to her and escorted her to an office for further questioning.
Dominguez allegedly told CBP she went to Juarez to visit her husband, who was previously deported from the United States. But she said something went wrong and she had to call her acquaintance Rojas to pick her up because she “was afraid her husband was going to hit her,” court records show.
The officers at PDN called back the drug-sniffing dog, which alerted CBP to Dominguez possibly carrying narcotics.
Two female officers patted down Dominguez and noticed she was wearing a girdle that “appeared abnormally tight,” court record show. A CBP supervisor was called to the room and approved a body search, which allegedly turned up a clear plastic bag with methamphetamine under her pannus stomach.
Healthline defines pannus stomach as excess skin hanging down from the belly or an “apron belly.”
Dominguez and Rojas were carrying almost half a pound of crystal meth, according to a complaint affidavit.
Rojas allegedly said Dominguez gave him the thermos and he didn’t know what was in it. Dominguez allegedly said Rojas was “involved in a narcotics distribution organization.”
A consensual search of their cellphones allegedly revealed conversations between the pair and third parties about narcotics activity, according to the criminal complaint.
Rojas – who also has been charged with importation and possession of a controlled substance – and Dominguez are scheduled for arraignment April 4 in a federal courtroom in El Paso.
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