Woman accused of providing cartel drugs to inmates, expelled from Mexico, returned to SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – A woman accused of working with the Mexican cartel and providing drugs to South Carolina inmates has been expelled from Mexico and returned to the state.

According to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, Jennifer Nicole Burns is a part of “Las Senoritas”, a group of women running to Mexico to escape prosecution in the United States.

Burns allegedly fled to Mexico in March of 2019 in connection with another state grand jury case.

Burns has been living in Mexico among cartel members sourcing drugs directly from them.

The attorney general’s office said Burns, along with other cartel members, coordinated with South Carolina Detention Center inmates to have drugs, mostly meth, delivered to co-conspirators in the Upstate, primarily in Greenville and Pickens County.

Those co-conspirators would drive to Atlanta, Georgia to pick up meth, bring it back to South Carolina and distribute it in the Upstate.

Between February 1, 2021, and December 14, 2022, law enforcement seized over 25 kilograms of methamphetamine (street value of approximately $800,000.00) and 30 guns as part of this investigation.

On May 21, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents traveled to Houston, Texas to take custody of Burns and bring her back to South Carolina to face her charges. 

Burns appeared before a judge on May 24 where he denied her bond.