Georgia woman headed to prison for trafficking drugs through Tampa port
February 23, 2021 - Yolanda Herrera of Rex, Ga., has been sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for her role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin sourced in Mexico and shipped to the Port of Tampa aboard a cargo ship. According to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, Herrera, 43, conspired with two Mexican nationals, Nestor Vazquez-Morales and Adan Martinez-Onofre, in the scheme, which involved smuggling the drugs inside stone blocks. She was arrested in Atlanta in September 2019 and pleaded guilty to the charges levied against her on June 4, 2020. Vazquez-Morales and Martinez-Onofre also entered guilty pleas and were sentenced in July 2020 to federal prison terms of 15 years and eight months and five years and 10 months, respectively.