Mexico Resident Arrested on Complaint Alleging She Drove Car Containing More Than 90 Pounds of Fentanyl Pills Stored in It

RIVERSIDE, California – A U.S. citizen living in Mexico is expected to make her initial appearance in federal court today on a criminal complaint alleging she possessed more than 90 pounds of fentanyl pills in her car, which was pulled over on Interstate 10 in Indio earlier this week.

Adriana Galindo, 34, of San Luis Río Colorado, Mexico, is charged in the complaint with one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Galindo is expected to make her initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside. The complaint was filed May 15.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Border Patrol agents on May 14 were conducting vehicle stops along I-10 in the Indio area. Agents stopped a 2015 black Chevrolet Malibu in Indio. Galindo, accompanied by her juvenile son, was the car’s driver and she allegedly told agents they were driving to Los Angeles to purchase clothing for a retail store in Mexico and were planning to return home later that day.

Galindo consented to a search of the car, and a trained narcotics K-9 conducted a free-air sniff of the vehicle and alerted fellow law enforcement to the presence of narcotics odor, the affidavit alleges.

An initial search of the vehicle yielded a single blue pill of suspected fentanyl, the affidavit states. After seizing the vehicle to a nearby Border Patrol station for further search, law enforcement seized approximately 93.3 pounds (42.3 kilograms) of fentanyl pills were discovered in a non-factory compartment located under the car’s front seats. Agents then arrested Galindo. Her son was released to the custody of his aunt, a California resident.

A complaint is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, Galindo would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and United States Border Patrol are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Danbee C. Kim of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.