United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ALBUQUERQUE – A Mexican national was convicted by a federal jury of drug trafficking and firearms offenses after less than 22 minutes of deliberation.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on February 22, 2022, Albuquerque Police Department Officers (APD) were dispatched to a stolen vehicle call in Southeast Albuquerque. Upon arrival, APD Officers observed three male subjects inside a parked pick-up truck matching the description given by the calling party. Octavio Jimenez-Marquez, 37, exited the front driver’s side of the vehicle and began to grab items from the bed of the truck. Officers gave commands for Jimenez to get on the ground and he complied.

After placing Jimenez under arrest, officers conducted an inventory search of the vehicle. During the inventory, officers located a large vacuum-sealed package containing 445 grams of methamphetamine and a stolen firearm underneath driver seat and an assault rifle up within arm’s reach of Jimenez. The truck also contained a Ziplock bag with 84 grams of methamphetamine.

Jimenez claimed that he had borrowed the truck from a friend but was unable to provide the friend’s name and did not know any further information about him. When asked about the firearms and drugs, Jimenez admitted there was a rifle inside the truck, but stated that the guns and drugs were not his.

Subsequent investigation uncovered evidence on Jimenez’s cell phones that was consistent with drug-trafficking activity and firearm possession. Investigators also learned that Jimenez was born in Mexico and never sought or obtained legal status in the United States.

On March 1, 2022, Jimenez was released to the third-party custody of the La Pasasda Halfway House pending trial. In July 2022, Jimenez absconded from supervision and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Jimenez was re-arrested in Albuquerque in December 2022.

The Court ordered that Jimenez remain in detention pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled. At sentencing, Jimenez faces a minimum of fifteen years and up to life in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

There is no parole in the federal system.

Towanda R. Thorne-James, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's El Paso Division, and U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez made the announcement today.

The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated this case with assistance from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department, Albuquerque Police Department, Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Louis Mattei and Elaine Y. Ramirez prosecuted the case.

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