Six people arrested in drug smuggling operation
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Six people have been charged by criminal complaint in connection with an alleged multi-national drug smuggling operation that used a commercial charter bus to transport liquid methamphetamine from Mexico to Emporia, Kansas.
According to court documents, the following defendants are charged with one count of possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine:
• Omar Villa Carranza, 45, a Mexican national unlawfully residing in Emporia, Kansas
• Tiburcio Ayala Rangel, 42, a Mexican national unlawfully residing in Emporia, Kansas
• Troy Wagaman, 42, of Emporia, Kansas
• Jesus Cruz Rodriguez, 28, of Emporia, Kansas
• Moises Cervantes Sanchez, 67, of McAllen, Texas, and
• Elizabeth Benitez, 33, of Emporia, Kansas
Between March and April 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) noted a charter bus making multiple crossings into the United States from Mexico carrying few or no passengers. License plate reader information showed the bus travelling to Emporia on all trips before returning to Mexico.
During one crossing, CBP officers conducted a secondary inspection and found several aftermarket anomalies, including bolts around the fuel tank that had been tampered with. Investigators learned the bus’s destination to be a rural property in the Emporia area.
When the bus again arrived at the U.S. border on May 4, 2025, a canine alerted to the presence of controlled substances. CBP took a sample of a substance found in the gas tank that tested as liquid methamphetamine. The driver was allowed to proceed, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents followed the bus, which eventually arrived at the rural property. The Emporia Police Department arrested Wagaman, Villa Carranza, Cruz Rodriguez, Cervantes Sanchez, and Ayala Rangel while the men were either at the property or shortly after leaving. Benitez, who lived with Villa Carranza, was also arrested at a different location.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), and the Emporia Police Department are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Trent Krug and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor Hines are prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).