Arizona man sentenced to over 7 years for trying to traffic methamphetamine

PHOENIX – A federal judge in Arizona sentenced a Tucson man to over seven years in prison for drug trafficking, officials announced Wednesday.

Esteban Terrazas, 56, pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine for sale on Oct. 27, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said in a press release. He is scheduled to spend 87 months in prison.

Law enforcement caught him with one pound of methamphetamine during a traffic stop on Aug. 10, 2021. He also had a loaded handgun, prosecutors said.

He admitted to intending to sell the drugs. Terrazas has multiple prior felony convictions, prosecutors said. The most recent was manslaughter, which prohibits him from possessing firearms.

Multiple agencies worked together on the investigation in this case: Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI. The United States Attorney’s Office in Tucson handled the prosecution.

This case was part of an operation led by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces – or OCDETF. The force identifies and dismantles high-level criminal organizations that threaten the U.S., prosecutors said.

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