DEL RIO, Texas – An illegal alien from Mexico was sentenced in a federal court in Del Rio today to 330 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin R. Simmons.
According to court documents, Jose Antonio Gabaldon-Salas, 30, of Nuevo Leon, was pulled over by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper on July 16, 2023, driving south on Interstate Highway 35 near Abbott. A K-9 conducted a free-air sniff of Gabaldon-Salas’s vehicle, alerting to the odor of narcotics near the seam of the rear door on the driver’s side. The trooper removed the door panel to discover three colored plastic bags containing eight bundles of rubber-banded U.S. currency along with a half brick of a white powdery substance. Further investigation revealed two more bundles of rubber-banded U.S. currency inside a black backpack on the passenger seat.
A chemical analysis determined that the substance found in Gabaldon-Salas’s vehicle was 520.24 grams of cocaine. The bundled cash totaled $38,685. Gabaldon-Salas stated that he worked for a drug trafficking organization (DTO) since October 2022, operating as a money counter before being promoted to driver. As a driver, he trafficked cocaine to Dallas and returned bulk cash to the border area to be smuggled into Mexico.
Gabaldon-Salas admitted to transporting between six and 12 kilograms of cocaine per month from December 2022 up until his July 2023 arrest. He also stated that he worked for the DTO both for money and out of fear, saying that he had been threatened on numerous occasions and that he witnessed another member of the organization hire a hitman to shoot a cocaine dealer/business partner in Mexico.
Gabaldon-Salas revealed that he resided at an Austin apartment with a co-conspirator and the co-conspirator’s girlfriend. A search of the apartment resulted in the discovery of $58,695, believed to be proceeds from narcotics trafficking.
Gabaldon-Salas was arrested on July 16, 2023, and indicted on Oct. 18, 2023. He pleaded guilty on April 29, 2024. Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses presided over the case.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
