RICHLAND, Wash. – A man who was caught by the DEA in 2020 using a four-year-old with a backpack to traffic drugs into the Tri-Cities has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.
Rafael Muniz-De La Mora will serve five years of federal supervision after his sentence as determined by Senior U.S. District Judge Edward F. Shea.
The Sinaloa, Mexico native was caught when he brought a four-year-old child to an arranged delivery of ten pounds of methamphetamine with his codefendant, Carlos Madrigal-Deniz.
The DEA found the delivery in a Spider-Man backpack next the child with the drugs provided by Muniz-De La Mora.
Investigations by the DEA Tri-Cities Task force found Madrigal-Deniz responsible for pound quantity transactions for a drug trafficking operation in the area. Muniz-De La Mora was found to be the supplier for Madrigal-Deniz’s organization.
Rafael Muniz-De La Mora pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of pure methamphetamine.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, Vanessa R. Waldref, commended the collaborative effort for state, local and federal law enforcement to find drug trafficking in the Tri-Cities.
“Drug distribution continues to be a scourge in the Tri-Cities and elsewhere,” said Waldref. “It is particularly troubling that Mr. Muniz-De La Mora used a four-year-old to conceal his distribution activities.”
