Two convicted of smuggling drugs

Two Santa Fe residents convicted by a federal jury in Las Cruces on charges on trafficking marijuana.

Two Santa Fe residents were convicted by a federal jury in Las Cruces Monday on charges on trafficking marijuana.

Francisca Lidia Cisneros, 44, and Frank Thomas Vigil, 35, were found guilty after a three-day trial, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The pair were arrested on Jan. 27 after Customs & Border Protection officers found 430 pounds of marijuana in their vehicle at the Santa Teresa Port of Entry. Both will remain in detention pending their sentencing hearings, at which they could face at least five years and up to 40 years in prison.

According to the evidence at trial, Vigil drove a Chevrolet Suburban belonging to Cisneros into the Santa Teresa Port of Entry with Cisneros as a passenger. The two told agents that they had driven from Santa Fe to Palomas, Mexico, the day before for dental work, but returned through Santa Teresa to sightsee.

A narcotics detecting dog alerted to the vehicle’s cargo area, where agents found 210 bundles of marijuana in a compartment under the floor.

Vigil admitted during his testimony that he and Cisneros had not driven the Suburban to Palomas. Instead, they had taken a bus from Santa Fe to El Paso, Texas, where someone met them and drove them to Palomas, where they later picked up the Suburban.