TEXAS | Texas Rangers have arrested a 92-year-old woman who was trying to smuggle 20 kilos (44 lb) of cocaine at the American-Mexican border this week.
Julia Maria Estrada told authorities she was in fact on the CIA payroll and on a top-secret mission for the U.S. government.
Although her claims sounded outlandish at first, it was eventually confirmed that she had in fact worked in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot for over 22 years and had been an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as well in the 1970s and 1980s.
“She claims she has shipped heroin for the CIA during the Vietnam war and had smuggled large quantities of cocaine aboard planes during the Reagan era,” a Laredo official told reporters.
A CIA spokesman has confirmed she had worked for the agency between 1972 and 1984 but has denied the Central Intelligence Agency ever participated in any drug smuggling operations.
The woman was immediately transported to the San Antonio Medical Center for psychological and medical evaluation as it seems she had been wandering in the desert for nearly 48 hours before being apprehended by Texas Rangers at the U.S.- Mexican border.
Doctors have confirmed Sanchez showed “clear symptoms of dementia and severe signs of dehydration” and has been put into an artificially-induced coma to prevent her from suffering from heart failure.
“She also claimed she had had an affair with George H. W. Bush senior, that he had hired his cousin to assassinate Ronald Reagan and that he would be extremely mad to hear about her arrest,” Dr. Steven Livingston told reporters.
Julia Maria Estrada could be facing up to 19 years in prison and/or a fine of not more than $250,000 for drug trafficking or distribution and the possession of more than 200 grams of cocaine according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, believe legal experts.
