A Wichita, Kansas man has been sentenced to 35 years in federal prison after investigators discovered methamphetamine hidden inside manufactured stone pillars in his vehicle at the Del Rio International Bridge. Juan Antonio Antuna Jr., 32, was convicted on charges of importing methamphetamine and conspiring to import the drug, capping a case that began with a routine border stop and ended with one of the harshest sentences handed down in the region this year.
According to HSI San Antonio, the sentence marks a major blow against cross-border drug smuggling delivered jointly by Homeland Security Investigations Del Rio and CBP South Texas. Antuna concealed the methamphetamine inside manufactured stone pillars loaded into his vehicle, attempting to import roughly 13.36 pounds of the drug before he was caught. HSI San Antonio serves as the principal investigative arm for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security across the Austin-San Antonio-Laredo-RGV region.
Court records reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice lay out how the scheme unraveled. Antuna arrived at the Del Rio International Bridge on March 16 driving a white van bearing Mexican license plates, presenting a Kansas driver’s license and telling border officers he was carrying only merchandise and food products. CBP officers weren’t convinced and sent the van to secondary inspection.
Concrete Pedestals Concealed the Drugs
What officers found inside changed everything. Federal inspectors discovered two concrete pedestals hidden in the van that concealed 6.06 kilograms — about 13.36 pounds — of methamphetamine, packed in alongside declared food products and vinyl signs, the Justice Department’s account states. It’s a smuggling method that has become disturbingly familiar at this particular crossing, where traffickers frequently build dense stone or concrete objects specifically to defeat both visual checks and X-ray screening…