FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE – Monica Vega, 36, of Roswell was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces to 120 months in prison for her conviction on methamphetamine trafficking charges. Vega will be on supervised release for five years after completing her prison sentence.

Vega was arrested Nov. 17, 2017, on a three-count indictment charging her with methamphetamine trafficking and firearms offenses. The indictment charged Vega with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute April 20, 2017 and Oct. 20, 2017, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime April 20, 2017.  According to the indictment, Vega committed the crimes in Chaves County.

June 19, 2018, Vega pled guilty to a two-count felony information charging her with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Vega admitted that April 20, 2017, law enforcement agents seized approximately 57.8 grams of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and $1,083 while executing a search warrant at her residence. Vega also admitted that Oct. 19, 2017, New Mexico State Police officers seized approximately 33.6 grams of methamphetamine from her when they arrested her on a traffic violation. Vega acknowledged that she planned to distribute the methamphetamine to others for money.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, the Roswell Police Department, New Mexico State Police and the HIDTA Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dustin C. Segovia and John Balla of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.

The HIDTA Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of investigators from the Roswell Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and the Chaves County Sherriff’s Office. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.  HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.