Two Mexican nationals have admitted to federal charges related to methamphetamine trafficking after being found with more than 56 pounds of the drug in Kansas City, Missouri.
Pedro Alberto Quiroz Ayala, 22, and Pablo DeJesus Peralta Anguis, 26, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to one count of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Anguis also entered a plea for unlawful reentry after removal.
According to court documents, on September 3, 2024, a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper stopped a gray 2011 Acura MDX on Interstate 29 near the N.W. 112th Street exit in Kansas City. Ayala was driving without a valid license; the vehicle also carried a female juvenile in the front passenger seat and Anguis and Apolinar Gocovachi Pacheco in the back seat.
A search of the vehicle led authorities to discover approximately 55.6 pounds of methamphetamine in a duffle bag located in the third-row seating area. An additional pound of methamphetamine was found in a grocery bag on the floorboard where the juvenile had been sitting. Officers also recovered a loaded firearm from the driver’s door pouch.
When asked to exit the vehicle during the search, both Ayala and Anguis fled on foot but were apprehended shortly thereafter.
Ayala informed investigators that he had traveled with Pacheco and Anguis to Omaha, Nebraska, to collect drugs and expected payment of about $2,000 for assisting with transportation. Anguis told officials he was illegally present in the United States from Mexico and had arrived two days prior to his arrest.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers confirmed that both Anguis and Pacheco had previously been detained by Border Patrol Agents near Nogales, Arizona on August 22, 2024. They were removed from the United States that same day.
Co-defendant Apolinar Gocovachi Pacheco, 25, pleaded guilty on November 19, 2025, to possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute as well as unlawful reentry after removal.
Federal law mandates that Ayala, Anguis and Pacheco each face sentences ranging from five years up to forty years in prison without parole. The final sentence will be determined by the court based on advisory guidelines following completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad K. Kavanaugh is prosecuting this case which involved multiple agencies including the FBI, DEA, Jackson County Drug Task Force, Kansas City Police Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America—a national initiative coordinated by the Department of Justice aimed at combating illegal immigration and dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations while protecting communities from violent crime.
