Two Mexican nationals illegally in Hawaii and the U.S. after repeated deportations were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury, according to court documents.
Enrique Gonzalez Jacobo, 59, of Mexico, was charged with attempting to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and being an illegal alien present in the U.S. “after having been previously convicted of a felony and removed” from the country.
Also indicted Thursday was Navor Salas Cruz, 52, also of Mexico, for being an illegal alien previously deported who came back to the States.
Gonzalez Jacobo has been deported to Mexico at least four times and has “three prior felony convictions related to drug trafficking,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
In July, Gonzalez Jacobo was found in Hilo and arrested while attempting to take possession of a package containing over five pounds of methamphetamine hidden inside a stuffed animal.
If convicted of the charged offenses, Gonzalez Jacobo faces up to life in prison, a mandatory minimum term of 10 years and a fine of up to $10 million.
On July 2, Homeland Security Investigations executed a federal search warrant on a U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail package addressed to a residence where Gonzalez Jacobo was known to live in Hilo, according to federal court documents.
Federal agents found 2,600 grams of methamphetamine concealed in a stuffed animal.
Federal agents swapped it out for fake methamphetamine and added “fluorescent detection powder to the stuffed animal containing the pseudo- methamphetamine, added a beeper-tracker device (which alerts law enforcement to the location of the parcel and when the parcel is opened),” repackaged it and delivered it to Gonzalez Jacobo’s address.
After the package was delivered, law enforcement watched Gonzalez Jacobo take it from his porch and enter his residence.
When the device in the package alerted law enforcement that it was open, they approached the home and announced they had a search warrant.
Gonzalez Jacobo ran out of the house, ditched the fake methamphetamine in a black trash bag and tried to hide in the bushes.
He was arrested, and the fake drugs were found 10 feet from where he was taken into custody.
“When taken into custody, Gonzalez Jacobo was wearing gloves which, when viewed under a fluorescent light source, emitted a glow indicating the presence of a fluorescent detection powder consistent with the one law enforcement applied to the stuffed animal containing the pseudo-methamphetamine,” read the criminal complaint filed July 11.
He told law enforcement he sold methamphetamine on Hawaii island that he got from the mainland.
Salas Cruz was deported to Mexico at least six times and has three felony convictions for illegally reentering the United States.
In 2018 he was convicted in federal court in Hawaii for “illegal reentry and illegally possessing firearms and ammunition as a felon,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
He was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and sent back to Mexico after he got out.
Salas Cruz came back to Hawaii and was arrested Feb. 25 on Kauai.
If convicted of the charged offense, Salas Cruz would face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
President Donald Trump’s administration is prioritizing the deportation of illegal immigrants, focusing first on those with criminal records.
The administration is also stepping up efforts to secure the southern border with Mexico.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol arrested 8,300 migrants at the southern border in February, Trump said on social media over the weekend, the lowest monthly level on record, according to Reuters.
Border Patrol’s monthly enforcement statistics go back to 2000.
The lowest monthly total on record previously was April 2017, when the agency arrested about 11,100 at the start of Trump’s first term.
The February arrest total was a steep drop from the 141,000 migrants picked up in February 2024 and down from 29,000 in January, according to U.S. government figures.
