TEXARKANA, Texas -Jurors seated Tuesday to decide the fate of a New Boston man accused of participating in a large-scale drug trafficking organization passed a plastic-wrapped kilogram of heroin around the jury box in the first day of trial in Texarkana's downtown federal building.
Armando Moya, 47, was allegedly waiting for delivery of that bundle and more when law enforcement executed a search of his New Boston home in the early hours of June 7, 2018. Armando Moya is charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin, fentanyl and cocaine and with carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
The first witness to take the stand, Jim Wells County Sheriff's Office Deputy Robert Waldrop, testified under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Locker that as a member of a criminal interdiction task force, he and other officers were asked June 6, 2018, to be on the alert for a rental car suspected of being used to traffic drugs. Waldrop spotted the white SUV and pulled it over for a traffic violation.
The driver, Jose Moya, a Mexican physician, and two women occupied the vehicle. Both women were dressed in long peasant skirts which could be seen in a video of the traffic stop played Tuesday for the jury.
As the wind whips the fabric of one woman's skirt and presses it against her body, Waldrop can be heard on the video asking her about a large rectangular bulge. Photographs of each woman standing with their skirt raised shows that beneath the long skirts, each is wearing leggings or tights without feet with multiple rectangular bundles stuffed into the legs.
In all, investigators recovered nine packages, each weighing approximately a kilogram. Eight of the bundles contained heroin while a ninth contained fentanyl, witnesses testified.
Customs and Border Patrol Agent Robert Pina testified under questioning from Locker that he is currently assigned to a DEA task force. Pina said that after Jose Moya was identified as a suspect, his office sought records from Avis Rental Car in McAllen, Texas, concerning Jose Moya's rental history. After determining that Jose Moya rented cars from Avis three or four times monthly, they were alerted to Jose Moya's rental June 6, 2018, and asked the Jim Wells Sheriff's Office for help.
Two sizable white plastic buckets containing the drugs sat on the prosecution's table Tuesday. Pina testified that opening the bucket containing fentanyl is too dangerous as the powerful drug can kill in small amounts. The kilo of heroin passed among the jury was wrapped in multiple layers of plastic and bagging.
Pina testified that Jose Moya and the two women cooperated and allowed investigators to search their cell phones. Pina said Jose Moya admitted that the drugs were meant for delivery to his brother, Armando Moya, in New Boston.
Based on information he obtained following the arrests of Jose Moya and the women, Pina immediately contacted his DEA counterparts in the Eastern District of Texas. Pina said that when a drug run is interrupted, officers must act quickly to effect arrests of those expecting a delivery. If drugs or currency arrive late or don't arrive at all, those expecting it may suspect law enforcement's involvement and hide or destroy evidence.
Under cross-examination by Texarkana defense lawyer Jeff Harrelson, both of the witnesses who testified Tuesday said Armando Moya was not present when the drugs were discovered during the traffic stop. In his opening statement, Harrelson asked the jury to "listen to the evidence, follow the law and be fair."
Harrelson's statement was preceded by Locker's opening which included a thorough accounting of what he expects the evidence will show. Photos of nearly $200,000 in cash which was discovered in Armando Moya's closet in the early hours of June 7, 2018, and a Raven Arms semi-automatic pistol stashed with it, were shown.
Locker said Armando Moya left a "trail of digital bread crumbs" which investigators followed using information from cell phone dumps and cell phone towers. Locker told the jury that Armando Moya made numerous trips carrying cash and drugs to destinations in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee and Ohio. Locker said in his opening that Moya is responsible for trafficking more than 100 kilos of drugs worth millions of dollars from November 2017 to the time of his arrest.
Jury selection took most of the day Tuesday. Shortly after 5 p.m., the jury was placed in an evening recess with instructions to return Wednesday morning by U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III.
If convicted, Moya will be sentenced by Schroeder at a later date. He faces 35 years to life in federal prison.