This past week, a federal court judge in Chattanooga sentenced Armando Mejia-Almazan to more than 24 years in prison.
This was after the 44-year-old plead guilty to those charges which included conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.
What sets this conviction apart from your average drug related charges is the fact that the defendant in this case is a Mexican National. He has been deported before and then re-entered the country illegally to continue trafficking and selling drugs in the U.S. – specifically in Tennessee.
Almazan has been determined to have ties directly to the Sinaloa, and Jalisco New Generation Cartels, two of the worst cartels with respect to their violence and cruelty. Documents on the case indicate that Almazan also operated his trafficking business out of multiple Atlanta-based apartment complexes.
Since 2021, when the policies regarding border security that had been put in place by President Donald Trump were removed, the number of criminal convictions of all crimes, including drug related crimes, for non-citizens has quadrupled, according to US Customs and Border Protection statistics.
In fiscal year 2019 the number of Criminal non-citizen arrents was 4,269. In fiscal year 2020, the number was nearly half, at 2,438. In fiscal year 2021, just months after President trumps policies were reversed by the Biden administration, that number soared to 10,763, and reached even higher in fiscal year 2022 at 12,028.
