Illegal alien sentenced 27 years in federal prison as part of Homeland Security Task Force for trafficking methamphetamine in the Eastern District of Texas

SHERMAN, Texas -A Mexican national illegally living in the United States has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison as part of the Homeland Security Task Force for trafficking methamphetamine in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

Israel Sanchez Arciga, 48, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute and possess with intent to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 324 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant, III on April 14, 2026.

According to information presented in court, Arciga and others were importing liquid methamphetamine from Mexico, completing the manufacturing process in Texas and then distributing multi-kilogram quantities of highly pure methamphetamine in the Eastern District of Texas. Arciga, an illegal alien, was also in possession of a firearm when he was arrested on July 14, 2023, outside the methamphetamine conversion lab in Rice, Texas, where he was living.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Rockwall County Sheriff's Office, Flower Mound Police Department, Garland Police Department, and Hunt County Sheriff's Office, with additional assistance from the Texas Department of Public Service and Navarro County Sheriff's Office.

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