Martinez, 38, is the fifth person — and third woman — to be charged in a recent federal drug smuggling case involving women allegedly hiding heroin in body cavities. Her Montgomery County Jail booking described Martinez as 5-foot-7 inches and 160 pounds.
Fernando Villegas Montoya, 31, Jose Mercado Herrera, 30, Angelica Perez Martinez, 23, Susana Castro Beltran, 24, and Martinez all were indicted on conspiracy charges.
All were also indicted for possession with intent to distribute, except Herrera, who was indicted on interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises.
The original four were arrested by the Miami Valley Bulk Smuggling Task Force after officials said the men were arrested after driving from California to a Dayton-area hotel to take possession of the estimated $400,000 worth of heroin. The woman both took flights to Dayton.
An affidavit written by DEA Task Force Officer Jason Via said they know of an organization sending “internal swallowers and females that use their vaginas to conceal up to a kilogram of heroin.”
Martinez crossed the Mexican border, went to the San Diego airport and purchased with cash a one-way ticket to Dayton on United Airlines, Via wrote.
Traveling with no checked bags, Martinez was observed getting off the plane and going directly to an airport bathroom and into a stall. After several minutes in the stall, Martinez spoke on two cell phones before obtaining a taxi cab, the complaint stated.
A Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office deputy conducted a traffic stop for speeding, and a Springfield police officer and his K-9 partner searched for narcotics, Via wrote. The document indicated Martinez had $1,000 in cash, some Xanax and appetite suppression pills.
At the DEA office, an officer told Martinez that investigators believed she was concealing drugs in her vagina. Martinez, who investigators said looked down and appeared to be nervous, gave consent for an X-ray when told if “drugs were exposed to her bloodstream she could die.”
Via wrote Martinez admitted she was being directed by individuals in Mexico but did not give any names.
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