Man who used drone to smuggle drugs into US sentenced to 12 years in jail, officials say

Agents found Jorge Rivera in possession of 13 pounds of methamphetamine in Aug. 2017 when he was trying to use a drone to smuggle drugs across the border. A 25-year-old man who was previously arrested after using a drone to smuggle drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, border officials announced. A jury sentenced Jorge Rivera on Wednesday after he was convicted last week of trying to traffic 13 pounds of methamphetamine into the United States during the summer, according to a release from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Rivera was detained on the night of Aug. 8, 2017 after a border patrol agent saw a drone flying across the border near the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the original arrest report said. An officer later reportedly located the suspect who was operating the drone and found him in possession of a bag containing "multiple plastic-wrapped packages containing methamphetamine."