Tri-City Drug Dealer uses Child as Drug Mule goes to Prison

In September of 2020, DEA Tri-Cities agents intercepted information that a resident of Sinaloa, Mexico, who had in the Tri-City area illegally for a period of time, was arranging to purchase at least 10 pounds of methamphetamine.

On the day of the transaction, agents saw and recorded 49-year-old Rafael Muniz-De La Mora, and an unidentified 4-year-old child arrive at the designated meeting point, followed by the individual he was to sell the meth to, Carlos Madrigal-Deniz.

According to court documents, the child was wearing a Spider-Man backpack which contained the 10 pounds of methamphetamine. Agents witnessed Muniz-De La Mora escort the child Madrigal-Deniz's vehicle. It was then that DEA Tri-Cities agents descended upon the car and recovered the backpack recovering the 10 pounds of meth supplied by Muniz-De La Mora to Madrigal-Deniz.

It is believed that Rafael Muniz-De La Mora had been working with a drug trafficking organization to broker 100 to 200 pound shipments of methamphetamine into the Eastern Washington for some time.

In a statement provided by Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, she states, “Drug distribution continues to be a scourge in the Tri-Cities and elsewhere.  It is particularly troubling that Mr. Muniz-De La Mora used a four-year old child to conceal his distribution activities."

The statement concludes, “I commend the collaborative efforts of state, local, and federal law enforcement to identify Mr. Muniz-De La Mora’s drug trafficking activities and to prevent him from further distributing this poison in our community.”

On March 28th Rafael Muniz-De La Mora was sentenced to 12 years in in federal prison for the busted drug deal and for using the child as a drug mule. Muniz-De La Mora will also serve 5 years of federal supervision after he is released from federal custody.