Del Rio federal court sentences drug trafficker to 330 months in prison

Del Rio’s federal courthouse handed down a 330-month prison sentence to Jose Antonio Gabaldon-Salas, a punishment that underscores how seriously judges in the border region are treating major cocaine cases tied to Texas highway corridors and cross-border money flows.

Gabaldon-Salas, a Mexican national, was convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine after a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper stopped him on Interstate Highway 35 near Abbott on July 16, 2023. During the stop, a free-air canine sniff alerted near the seam of the rear door on the driver’s side. The search turned up 520.24 grams of cocaine, along with $38,685 in bundled cash hidden in the vehicle.

Investigators said the traffic stop was only part of a wider trafficking operation. Gabaldon-Salas admitted he had worked for a drug trafficking organization since October 2022, first as a money counter and later as a driver. He told investigators he moved cocaine to Dallas and carried bulk cash back toward the border so it could be smuggled into Mexico. He also admitted transporting between six and 12 kilograms of cocaine per month from December 2022 until his arrest.

The case stretched beyond the roadside stop. Investigators found another $58,695 in an Austin apartment tied to a co-conspirator, money they believed came from narcotics sales. Gabaldon-Salas was arrested the day of the stop, indicted on October 18, 2023, and pleaded guilty on April 29, 2024. Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses presided over the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner handled the prosecution. ICE Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation.

The sentence also highlights why Del Rio remains a central courtroom for Val Verde County and the wider border region. The Del Rio Division of the Western District of Texas covers Edwards, Kinney, Maverick, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde and Zavala counties, serving 158,423 people across 13,149 square miles. Even when arrests happen far from Del Rio, major narcotics cases from across the region often end up there for sentencing.

The Justice Department said the case falls under Operation Take Back America, an effort aimed at cartels, transnational criminal organizations, illegal immigration and violent crime. It comes amid other lengthy Del Rio sentences, including a 324-month sentence in April 2024 and a 420-month sentence in March 2024, showing how the division continues to deliver some of the harshest penalties in the region’s drug cases.