Apolinar Gocovachi Pacheco, a Mexican national, was sentenced on Apr. 2 to eight years in federal prison without parole for possessing more than 56 pounds of methamphetamine and entering the United States illegally after deportation.
The sentencing highlights ongoing efforts by law enforcement agencies to address drug trafficking and illegal immigration in the region. The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri supports community outreach and prevention programs aimed at addressing issues like violent crime and drug trafficking, according to the official website.
Pacheco, age 26, was arrested after a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper stopped a gray Acura MDX on Interstate 29 near Kansas City in September 2024. Authorities found over 55 pounds of methamphetamine in a duffle bag inside the vehicle, about one pound more in another bag near a juvenile passenger, and a loaded firearm in the driver’s door pouch. When officers searched the car, two other occupants fled but were apprehended shortly afterward.
Pacheco told investigators he had entered the country illegally from Nogales Sonora, Mexico about two weeks earlier after paying $6,000 to cross the border. He said he was recruited by Pablo DeJesus Peralta Anguis to help transport drugs from Omaha back to Kansas City with promises of payment. Immigration officials confirmed that Pacheco had previously been removed from Arizona just weeks before his arrest.
Co-defendants Pedro Alberto Quiroz Ayala and Anguis have pleaded guilty to related charges; both await sentencing. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad K. Kavanaugh following an investigation involving multiple agencies including FBI, DEA, Jackson County Drug Task Force, Kansas City Police Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The prosecution falls under Operation Take Back America—a nationwide initiative led by the Department of Justice aiming to combat illegal immigration and eliminate transnational criminal organizations (TCOs).
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri handles federal prosecutions across 66 counties spanning from Iowa’s border southward to Arkansas and westward from Kansas into central Missouri according to its official website. The office maintains locations in Kansas City, Jefferson City and Springfield; it collaborates with federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners as reported by its official website.
