2 men caught at Tampa airport with 60kg of meth in suitcases plead guilty
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A second man has pleaded guilty after flying to Tampa with 60 kilograms of methamphetamine, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.
According to the plea agreement, on May 2, 2023, Hernan Cruz-Moreno, 24, of Earlimart, California, and Agustin Ortiz-Sanchez, 22, of Thermal, California, flew from Los Angeles to Tampa International with four suitcases containing a total of 60 kilograms of methamphetamine.
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Special agents from Homeland Security and Tampa International Airport police officers examined the luggage and a narcotics detection dog sniffed out the drugs.
Cruz-Moreno and Ortiz-Sanchez were arrested when they went to retrieve their bags.
Cruz-Moreno admitted that he’d been paid $2,000 by someone to transport the luggage and claimed at the time that he “didn’t know what was in the bags” but knew it was “something illegal.”
On Thursday, the Justice Department announced that Cruz-Moreno pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess methamphetamine. He faces a minimum of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
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Ortiz-Sanchez pleaded guilty to the same offense in November. His sentencing hearing is set for Feb. 27.
Homeland Security Investigations, along with the Tampa International Airport Police Department, investigated this case.
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