Former Reynosa councilwoman sentenced to 3 years in prison for smuggling drugs

McALLEN, TEXAS ( ValleyCentral ) — A former member of the Reynosa City Council was sentenced to more than three years in prison Monday after Border Patrol caught her with 93 pounds of cocaine.

Denisse Ahumada Martinez, 35, of Reynosa said that someone threatened to hurt her daughters if she didn’t transport drugs.

“I know I should have seen the other options that I had,” Ahumada said Monday morning, when she appeared in court for sentencing. “But I didn’t.”

Ahumada stopped at the Border Patrol checkpoint near Falfurrias on June 10, 2023.

A “law enforcement alert” had been placed on her white Mazda SUV, said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Nicholas Landsman, who testified during a hearing on June 15, 2023.

Border Patrol sent Ahumada to secondary inspection. During a search, agents discovered 37 bricks of cocaine hidden in her car.

“Including inside the seats where her children were sitting,” Landsman said.

Border Patrol called the DEA, which questioned Ahumada about the cocaine.

Ahumada told the DEA she had received threatening phone calls from someone in Mexico.

“She stated that she felt like they might harm her kids,” Landsman said. “She never gave us a description on the type of threat.”

Ahumada, apparently scared, followed the person’s instructions.

On June 9, according to Ahumada, the person told her to drive to Monterrey and drop off the Mazda SUV.

Later that day, Ahumada picked up the Mazda and headed back to Reynosa.

On June 10, she packed a bag and crossed the Hidalgo bridge.

“She said that she was supposed to go to San Antonio,” Landsman said. “And, when she reached the San Antonio vicinity, she would get a phone call on where to drop the vehicle off.”

Ahumada told the DEA she made a similar trip to Houston a month before her arrest.

On her trip to Houston, however, the Mazda SUV broke down, Landsman said. Ahumada became nervous, abandoned her car and took a bus back to Mexico.

“But someone in Mexico called her and said: ‘You need to return to Houston to get that vehicle,’” Landsman said.

Ahumada returned to Houston, picked up the Mazda SUV and drove back to Mexico.

The DEA arrested Ahumada and charged her with possession of more than 93 pounds of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Days later, though, U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis dismissed the case after the government couldn’t prove Ahumada knew about the drugs.

“What in that whole situation, which is what your agent testified to, would leave a person to conclude it’s narcotics, versus something else, within that vehicle?” Alanis said during the hearing on June 15, 2023.

To keep Ahumada in custody, the DEA called the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office, which arrested her on a state charge.

A federal grand jury indicted Ahumada on new charges less than a week later.

Ahumada pleaded guilty in October 2023. As part of her plea , Ahumada admitted that she knew the Mazda SUV contained drugs but denied knowing the type or the amount.

She returned to court Monday for sentencing wearing a gray shirt and blue pants.

Ahumada is a victim of domestic violence, said her attorney, Oscar Alvarez of McAllen. Alvarez said he provided the court with photos that documented the abuse.

“Unfortunately, she’s had two very terrible relationships,” Alvarez said.

Ahumada and her daughters moved from Tampico to Reynosa, where she won a seat on the City Council.

“I never really thought about committing crimes in your country or mine,” Ahumada said in Spanish, speaking through a translator.

Ahumada claimed she began transporting drugs after someone threatened her daughters.

Who threatened them remained unclear Monday.

Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane said that someone Ahumada worked with — a female politician in Mexico — apparently got her involved. Crane didn’t identify the politician by name.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Garcia, who prosecuted the case, said the government couldn’t find any proof Ahumada had actually received any threats.

Ahumada served on the City Council for several years and worked closely with law enforcement after she experienced domestic violence, Garcia said, but apparently didn’t contact law enforcement about the supposed threats.

Crane, the federal judge, said Ahumada appeared to be just a “low-level drug mule.”

After reviewing the facts and listening to Ahumada’s lengthy statement, Crane sentenced her to three years and one month in federal prison.

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