MCALLEN, Texas — A Mexican man was sentenced Thursday to 6 ½ years in federal prison for importing methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. This investigation was led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Manuel Ivan Reina-Ruiz, from Sonora, Mexico, has been sentenced to 78 months imprisonment by a U.S. District judge in McAllen.

According to court documents, when Reina-Ruiz pleaded guilty Jan. 16, he admitted that he had driven a vehicle from Mexico into the United States through the Progreso port of entry, knowing the vehicle contained a controlled substance. Upon inspection, CBP officers discovered methamphetamines hidden within the quarter panels of all four tires. This is where CBP seized numerous bricks of the drug weighing about 62 kilograms (about 137 pounds). Reina-Ruiz is expected to face deportation proceedings following his release from prison.

Reina-Ruiz will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Requénez, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.