Daniel Roberto Auz-Vasquez, a 28-year-old resident of Imuris, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced to 78 months in prison on December 5, 2025. The sentence was handed down by Chief United States District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps. In addition to the prison term, Auz-Vasquez will serve four years of supervised release and must pay a $100 special assessment. He was convicted for his involvement in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Authorities reported that on July 1, 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona, Auz-Vasquez and other individuals involved in the conspiracy possessed about 100 pounds of methamphetamine with plans to deliver it to another person later that day.
The case is linked to the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), an initiative created under Executive Order 14159 aimed at protecting the United States from criminal organizations. According to the press release: “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. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.”
The investigation in Tucson was led by agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS). Assistant United States Attorney David Petermann prosecuted the case for the District of Arizona-Tucson.
