Mexican National living in Hilo indicted on federal drug charges

A Mexican National was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of drug trafficking methamphetamine and illegal re-entry after being deported multiple times.

According to court documents filed Thursday, Enrique Gonzalez Jacobo, age 59, was living in Hilo when he was arrested in July 2024. He is charged with attempted possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and re-entry of removed alien.

Jacobo has been removed to Mexico at least four times and has three prior felony convictions related to drug trafficking. If convicted of the charged offenses, the 59-year-old faces up to life in prison, a mandatory minimum term of 10 years and a fine of up to $10,000.

Charges stem from an incident last summer when Jacobo reportedly attempted to take possession of a package mailed through the U.S. Postal Service containing more than five pounds of methamphetamine hidden inside a stuffed animal.

The package was discovered on July 2, 2024, by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations. According to court documents, the parcel contained approximately 2,600 grams of a substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.

According to court documents, agents replaced the methamphetamine in the parcel with pseudo-methamphetamine, added fluorescent detection powder to the stuffed animal containing the fake drug, added a beeper-tracker device (which alerts law enforcement to the location of the parcel and when the parcel is opened), repackaged the parcel, and then delivered it to Jacobo’s residence in Hilo.

Law enforcement also obtained a separate federal search warrant authorizing a search of Jacobo’s residence.

Shortly after law enforcement delivered the parcel, law enforcement saw Jacobo pick up the parcel from the front porch area and go back inside the residence, package in hand, according to court documents. Not long after, court documents indicate that law enforcement received an alert through the beeper-tracker device indicating the parcel had been opened.

At that point, agents went to Jacobo’s door, announced their presence and stated they had a warrant.

Officials stated Jacobo fled from the home and into nearby bushes. He was immediately taken into custody. While outside, law enforcement discovered the package they had delivered in a black garbage bag.

It had been opened, and the pseudo-methamphetamine was no longer in the parcel.

Agents found a second bag containing the fake drugs approximately 10 feet from where Jacobo was taken into custody.

When taken into custody, Jacobo was reportedly wearing gloves which, when viewed under a fluorescent light source, emitted a glow indicating the presence of a fluorescent detection powder consistent with the one law enforcement applied to the stuffed animal containing the pseudo-methamphetamine.

On July 3, 2024, law enforcement interviewed Jacobo. According to court documents, the 59-year-old admitted that he was in the business of purchasing methamphetamine from a supplier on the mainland and selling that methamphetamine to others on the Island of Hawai‘i for profit.

Jacobo also admitted that he was anticipating delivery of the package, which he believed would contain approximately five pounds of methamphetamine, and that he had opened the parcel, “removed the pseudo-methamphetamine, determined there was something wrong, and planned to bum it.”