ILLEGAL ALIEN PLEADS GUILTY IN FEDERAL COURT TO POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE 361 POUNDS OF METHAMPHETAMINE

Edenilson Alexander Castaneda-Del Valle, age 19, of El Salvador, who is present in the United States without authorization, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge John W. deGravelles to possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.

If convicted, Castaneda-Del Valle faces a sentence of imprisonment which may not be less than 10 years and up to life and a fine of up to $10,000,000.

According to admissions made during his plea, on February 7, 2026, a Livingston Parish Sheriff's Criminal Patrol K-9 Deputy conducted a traffic stop on Interstate 12 on a 2017 Jaguar Model XE which was occupied by two individuals. The passenger was identified as Castaneda-Del Valle.

The deputy, having been previously informed by other law enforcement agencies that the 2017 Jaguar Model XE contained a hidden compartment or "trap," which is commonly used to conceal illegal drugs or money, asked for consent to search the vehicle, which the driver granted. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security Task Force Officer (HSI-TFO) arrived to assist. Both officers quickly located the hidden trap under the vehicle's center console.

In plain view in the back seat of the car were three backpacks, and one large black garbage bag. When the HSI-TFO moved the garbage bag to look for an additional entrance to the trap, he felt cabbage sized bundles through the outside of the plastic garbage bag and also detected a chemical order coming from the contents of the plastic bag. Based upon his training and experience, he immediately suspected the plastic bag contained contraband. After completing the seizure, it was determined that there were approximately 361 pounds of methamphetamine with a street value estimated at just under $4,000,000.

Additionally, officers found two digital scales, several boxes of plastic baggies, a box of plastic garbage bags that matched the plastic bags that contained the bundles in the green plastic film, a bag of rubber bands, and $7,155 in U.S. Currency. Approximately $5,000 of the currency, all $100 bills, was in three stacks, rubber-banded together. At least one of the stacks was in a backpack that also contained the driver's license and El Salvadorian Passport for Castaneda Del Valle.

U.S. Attorney Kurt Wall praised the work of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations, Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lyman E. Thornton III.

"These agencies did an excellent job of intercepting those drugs. They quickly got the case to our office, and it was indicted within four days of the arrest," Wall said. "Our priority is the total elimination of these drug trafficking organizations. We will move quickly and effectively to achieve those goals, and this is an example of what's to come."

This prosecution 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. HSTF New Orleans comprises agents and officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSl), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the United States Marshals Service (USMS), Us. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO), the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the U.S. Coast Guard, Investigative Service (CGlS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (CBP OFO), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Us. Border Patrol (CBP BP) with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for Middle District of Louisiana.