SC woman wanted for trafficking meth is found in Mexico

A South Carolina woman believed to be a member of a group of drug traffickers known as “Las Señoritas” was arrested Monday in Mexico City — where she had been hiding for years to avoid prosecution in the US.

Jennifer Burns, 40, who had an arrest warrant extradition to the US, was taken into custody in Miguel Hidalgo, a Mexico City neighborhood, the Secretary of Citizen Security of Mexico (SSC) said Monday.

Burns is one of 43 defendants indicted in January on a collective 170 charges by the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office. She was accused of conspiring to traffic 400 grams or more of methamphetamine.

At the time of her arrest, she was caught with 87 doses of cocaine and a box containing fentanyl.

The trafficking case, called “Las Señoritas,” was given its name because its main targets are women who authorities believe have run away to Mexico to avoid prosecution in the US.

Burns and two other women accused allegedly fled to Mexico sometime between the end of 2018 and 2020, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a release.

Officials believe the suspects were living among Jalisco New Generation Cartel members and sourcing drugs directly from the group.

Members of “Las Señoritas” communicated using contraband cellphones with inmates in the upstate South Carolina counties of Pickens, Greenville, Laurens, Anderson and Oconee.

The women allegedly traveled to Atlanta and other cities to pick up shipments of methamphetamine and bring it back to South Carolina, where it was distributed through the upstate region.

Between Feb. 1, 2021, and Dec. 14, 2022, law enforcement seized over 25 kilograms of methamphetamine, which has a street value of $800,000, as well as 30 guns.

All 43 of the co-conspirators have been charged with conspiring to traffic 400 grams or more of methamphetamine, a charge that carries a sentence of between 25 and 30 years.

“It might surprise people that cartel drug trafficking happens in South Carolina, but it does and we’re fighting to stop it,” Wilson said in January while announcing indictments against the 43 defendants.

“By working with our partners at SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) and local agencies, we’re able to investigate and prosecute complex trafficking conspiracies like this one and defend the rule of law.”

Her extradition to the US was pending as of Tuesday.