Date: April 18, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Anchorage, AK — A Texas man was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and three years’ supervised release for trafficking more than 21 kilograms of the drug known as Spice from Texas to Alaska. “Spice” is a generic term for synthetic cannabinoids, which are mind-altering chemicals that are formed by dissolving psychotropic drugs in acetone and spraying them on dried plant material. According to court documents, between 2020 and 2022, law enforcement officers intercepted over 21 kilograms of Spice that Jacob Trujillo of San Antonio, shipped through the mail to local distributors in Alaska. Trujillo also laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in two separate bank accounts between January 2020 and October 2021. “Starting in 2015, Spice was flooding the streets of Anchorage, resulting in an influx of medical emergency response calls related to Spice use and six fatal overdoses outside the Brother Francis Shelter,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “This sentence represents one of the final pieces in a joint effort to get Spice off our streets and bring justice to the culprits who brought it to our great state.” “Alaskans have seen first-hand the harm that synthetic cannabinoids, or “Spice,” has caused to our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Adam Jobes, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI), Seattle Field Office. “Mr. Trujillo is facing the consequences of his actions, and his sentencing is evidence of IRS CI’s commitment to keeping harmful and illegal drugs off our streets.” “The Drug Enforcement Administration works everyday with our partners to ensure Alaska is safe from those who seek to target the vulnerable for profit,” said David F. Reames, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “The sentence that Mr. Trujillo received for harming our community serves as a reminder of the seriousness with which we all take this threat.” The IRS CI Seattle Field Office, DEA Anchorage Field Office and Seattle Division Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Schroeder prosecuted the case. CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
