Court Sentences Texas Mother to 60 Months Imprisonment for Trafficking Methamphetamine

MOBILE, AL - United States District Court Judge, Jeffrey U. Beaverstock sentenced Zolia Rosa Zuniga of Texas to 60 months imprisonment for her part in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy.

Documents filed with the court and evidence introduced in court established that on January 5, 2021, a Baldwin County Sheriff's Office's Special Operations Unit Task Force Officer (TFO) stopped Zuniga on Interstate 10 for travelling too closely behind another vehicle. Due to a number of suspicious circumstances during the stop the TFO deployed his canine named "Darlin" to sniff the outside of the vehicle and the canine alerted to the odor of narcotics emanating from the vehicle. After the canine alert law enforcement searched the vehicle and found approximately 32 pounds of methamphetamine secreted behind the speakers in the vehicle.

Zuniga later admitted to law enforcement that she knowingly agreed to transport the drugs for an individual from Mexico that had agreed to pay her $10,000 for her courier services. Zuniga further admitted she was driving from Texas to the Tampa, Florida area with the drugs when she was stopped in Baldwin County. Zuniga is the mother of two minor children.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney George F. May.