Mexican airline passenger caught in Houston with heroin in suitcases sentenced to 3 years

HOUSTON

A federal judge in Houston sentenced 21-year-old Yessica Chanel Cabanillas-Torres. She pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin.

Cabanillas-Torres told investigators she was a law school student when she was arrested last October at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport. She arrived on a United Airlines flight from Quito, Ecuador, and was then heading to Newark, N.J.

Cabanillas-Torres said she was paid $4,000 to transport two suitcases with the drugs to Newark to an unidentified contact. The heroin was smuggled inside the walls of the bags.

Cabanillas-Torres, who was sentenced Friday, faces possible deportation following her release from prison.
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