CHRISTIANSTED — An Arizona man who tried to smuggle nearly 24 pounds of marijuana to St. Croix in his luggage in last month was arrested by federal agents over the weekend, authorities said.
United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced today that Armando Antonio Mena of Phoenix was arrested Friday and charged with possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute.
According to court documents, Mena, 28, was traveling to St. Croix, U.S. from San Francisco via a commercial airline on May 27, 2020 with a checked bag that contained 22 individually wrapped vacuum sealed bags under articles of clothing.
The vacuum wrapped bags contained a green leafy substance which tested positive for marijuana and which weighed approximately 10.78 kilograms.
An initial appearance in federal court occurred on Friday, followed by preliminary and release hearings on Monday.
The case is being investigated by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa P. Ortiz.
Shappert said that a criminal complaint is merely a formal charging document and is not in and of itself evidence of guilt.
“Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty,” she said.
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