EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — A 39-year-old man was sentenced to 12 years in prison last week for smuggling nearly seven kilograms of cocaine in a tractor-trailer stopped along Interstate 10 near Clint.
According to the El Paso District Attorney’s Office, Jose Villa was arrested in October 2023 by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper following a traffic stop of Villa’s Kenworth tractor-trailer off I-10 near the Clint exit.
According to evidence presented in the case, Villa raised the trooper’s suspicion during the stop and gave verbal consent to search the truck.
During the search, the trooper found six bundles wrapped in electrical tape underneath the bed of the truck. The bundles were covered in engine oil and later tested positive for cocaine, with a weight of 6.9 kilograms.
Villa initially denied knowing about the drugs but later admitted he agreed to pick up the narcotics at a gas station north of the Ysleta Port of Entry.
“Cases like this demonstrate the very real role our region plays in disrupting the flow of narcotics before they reach communities across the country,” District Attorney James Montoya said. “This sentence reflects a continued commitment to hold those who traffic large quantities of narcotics through El Paso County accountable.”
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