An Albuquerque woman who concealed a deadly dose of fentanyl inside her children’s luggage has pleaded guilty to federal drug crimes.
In May of 2022 court records show 47-year-old Magdalena Banuelos of Albuquerque, New Mexico packed her 8 and 10-year-old kid's luggage full of fentanyl and put them on a plane to Dallas.
When the kids landed at Dallas Love Field, they were met by their father, Banuelos's ex-husband.
Surveillance video shows that her ex-husband picked up the boys from the gate around 9:47 p.m., rifled through their luggage at around 10:17 p.m., and entered the airport restroom at around 10:26 p.m. A few minutes later, he overdosed and died in a restroom stall, just steps away from his sons.
Now Banuelos is pleading guilty to using her kids as drug mules. Her plea agreement calls for a 12-year prison term if a judge goes along with it.
Banulos will find out when she is sentenced in July.
“This case is a double tragedy: A pair of young boys lost one parent to drugs, and the other to the criminal justice system,“ said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. “This defendant allowed her two young sons to fly more than 500 miles cross-country with a highly lethal synthetic opioid stashed inside their suitcase, knowing full well how dangerous it was. These boys stood nearby as their father suffered a fatal overdose after ingesting it. The Justice Department will continue to fight until fentanyl is eradicated from our streets.”
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