2 El Pasoans get prison for cocaine smuggling

Two El Pasoans were sentenced Monday for attempting to smuggle 13 pounds of cocaine past the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near Alamogordo, the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Mexico said.

Ever Omar Valdez, 26, and Javier Cruz, 27, were each sentenced in federal court in Las Cruces to two years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty in January to charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, prosecutors said.

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On Oct. 6, 2016, Valdez and Cruz were arrested after five packages of cocaine were found in the rear bumper of a car by U.S. Border Patrol agents during an inspection at the U.S. 54 checkpoint near Alamogordo, a federal criminal complaint stated.

The complaint stated that Valdez and Cruz told a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent that they were to be paid $2,000 for each package of cocaine that they delivered. The destination of the cocaine was not disclosed.