United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Ana Christina Avalos a/k/a “Christina Cazares-Quintero”, age 35, of Phelan, California, to 57 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.   

The sentence was announced by Jarod Forget, SpecialAgnet in Charge of the DEA Washington Division; Jonathan F. Lenzner, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department and Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.

According to her plea agreement, between at least December 2018 and January 2020, Avalos conspired with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and other drugs. Avalos and a co-conspirator resided in California and acted as international narcotic importers for a drug trafficking organization.

Along with a co-conspirator, Avalos supplied narcotics to fellow co-conspirators who then shipped narcotics from the west coast to the east coast of the United States. A New York-based co-conspirator supplied co-conspirators in Maryland, Washington D.C., and the Northern Virginia areas.  Avalos regularly traveled to the New York area to collect money from accomplices and other narcotic customers. 

For example, on May 21, 2019, Avalos received $9,000 as partial payment for a drug transaction totaling $22,500.  In exchange, Avalos provided the associate with cocaine.  Over the course of the next month, at Avalos’s instruction, a co-conspirator made payments to Avalos by depositing money orders into Avalos’s checking account.

Law enforcement also captured three phone calls between Avalos and co-conspirators in which they discuss the quality, logistics, and potential financial gain from trafficking-controlled substances. Additionally, there were a number of drug-laden packages shipped from the west coast to the east coast as part of the drug trafficking conspiracy. Law enforcement captured four parcels and discovered approximately 505 grams of cocaine and 42 pounds of other drugs inside the respective parcels.

As stated in the plea agreement, on January 8, 2020 law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at several locations important to the drug trafficking organization, including Avalos’s and a co-conspirator’s shared California residence, a Virginia residence, and another co-conspirator’s California residence. Officers recovered approximately 500 grams of drugs, a .38 caliber revolver, and a semi-automatic handgun from Avalos’s residence. As a result of a search warrant conducted at a co-conspirator’s California residence and a co-conspirator’s Virginia residence, officers seized four cell phones, a drug ledger, drug packaging materials, two heat sealers, approximately 17 pounds of other drugs, one kilogram of cocaine, approximately 48 grams of heroin, and other drug packaging tools.

In total, officers recovered approximately 866 grams of fentanyl, approximately 1,505 grams of cocaine, and at least 36,897 grams of other drugs. This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.     

SAC Forget commended the U.S. Attorney's Office of Maryland, the Maryland State Police, and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation. 

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