Alice Man Gets 22 Years for Smuggling Meth Hidden in Clay Bricks

Scott Garza, 35, was remanded into federal custody the moment U.S. District Judge David S. Morales finished imposing his sentence on April 2: 265 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possessing nearly 8 kilograms of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. The smuggling method set this case apart. The methamphetamine had been mixed directly into the clay material of ten bricks, then shipped inside a package from Mexico to an address in Alice, the county seat of Jim Wells County.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations intercepted that package on August 7, 2025. An X-ray scan and a K-9 alert flagged the bricks, and laboratory analysis confirmed the methamphetamine content. Investigators then watched as Garza traveled to an abandoned, boarded-up house in Alice, the covert dead-drop address listed on the shipping label, and retrieved the package while armed with a firearm. He transported it to his personal residence, where he opened it. A search warrant executed at that home turned up cocaine, additional methamphetamine, Xanax tablets, marijuana, synthetic marijuana, and three more firearms. The drug weight totaled nearly 8 kilograms, with a street value estimated at $160,000.

At sentencing, Judge Morales noted that while Garza may have previously operated at a low level, "he graduated to the next by participating in this crime." Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck announced the outcome; Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley A. Pruitt prosecuted. The Texas Department of Public Safety and the Jim Wells County Sheriff's Office assisted the federal lead agencies. Garza had pleaded guilty on December 30, 2025, and remained free on bond until the April 2 hearing.

The Garza case is the latest in a documented line of federal meth prosecutions targeting the Alice corridor. In April 2025, a DEA investigation resulted in Alice resident Diana Contreras receiving 156 months and co-conspirator East drawing more than 10 years in a separate meth conspiracy that included supply runs to San Antonio. In 2019, Operation Coastal Bender, an HSI-led sweep, arrested 33 people across the Coastal Bend, including from Jim Wells County, on federal and state narcotics and firearms charges. Alice sits on U.S. Highway 281, a documented trafficking artery in South Texas, and carries a poverty rate of 24.8 percent, nearly 10 points above the national average, a combination that federal prosecutors have repeatedly cited when explaining the region's persistent vulnerability to trafficking networks.

The 265-month sentence will keep Garza off Alice streets into the mid-2040s, but it does not by itself close the networks that shipped clay bricks from Mexico to a vacant property in this city of 17,707. The five-year supervised release term means Garza will eventually return to Jim Wells County under court-ordered conditions, with the Federal Bureau of Prisons still to designate his facility.

Residents with information about drug activity can reach HSI's anonymous tip line at 1-866-347-2423 or contact the Jim Wells County Sheriff's Office directly. Families dealing with substance use can call SAMHSA's free, 24-hour helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for referrals to local treatment providers and support services in the Coastal Bend.