March 1, 2026 – Tampa, Florida – Jacob Paul Arjona (32, Bakersfield, CA) has been sentenced to 24 years 
and 6 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. This sentence is to be served concurrently with Arjona’s sentence in a separate federal methamphetamine trafficking and kidnapping case, in which he was sentenced in August 2025 to 17 years and 7 months’ imprisonment. Arjona has been in custody since February 25, 2025, he pleaded guilty on November 19, 2025. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
According to court documents, Arjona recruited Hernan Cruz-Moreno and Agustin Ortiz-Sanchez to transport more than 132 pounds of methamphetamine to Tampa in their luggage on a flight from Los Angeles, California to Tampa International Airport (TIA) on May 3, 2023, while Arjona traveled to Florida separately to oversee the distribution of the methamphetamine.
After Cruz-Moreno and Ortiz-Sanchez were stopped and arrested at TIA and their luggage was seized, special agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) had packaging from the seized methamphetamine tested and received a positive match on fingerprint testing for Arjona. Airline records showed that Arjona had traveled to Tampa later and flew out of Orlando on May 3, 2023.
Cruz-Moreno previously pleaded guilty to trafficking charges and was sentenced in April 2024 to 7 years and 3 months’ imprisonment. Ortiz-Sanchez fled after he was released on bond and remains a fugitive from justice.
Airline records also connected Arjona to similar ventures in other jurisdictions involving marijuana and methamphetamine. In addition, airline and baggage records the HSI agents had gathered while investigating this case helped the Drug Enforcement Administration connect Arjona to an unrelated October 2023 drug and kidnapping case in Holiday, Florida. Arjona pleaded guilty in that case in December 2024.
“The coordination and cooperation by our law enforcement partners were effective in disrupting the trafficking of methamphetamine from coast to coast,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe. “We will continue to work together to prevent the flow of dangerous drugs into our communities across the Middle District of Florida.”
“Illicit narcotics like methamphetamine pose a grave threat that destroys lives, tears apart families, and undermines the safety and well-being of neighborhoods across the country,” said Homeland Security Investigations Tampa acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Calvo. HSI, alongside our partners at Tampa International Airport Police Department, are dedicated to stopping these criminals from importing the devastating effects of illegal drugs into our communities.”
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Tampa International Airport Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney E. Jackson Boggs, Jr.
Source: DOJ Release