U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday discovered a little more than 88 pounds of methamphetamine inside hidden compartments in a vehicle at the Hidalgo port of entry.
The driver, Alma Delia Rios, a U.S. citizen born in 1983, is accused of attempting to smuggle the drugs to Dallas.
She faces a charge of knowingly and intentionally importing a controlled substance.
During a primary inspection, Rios told CBP officers she was visiting family in Mexico and was on her way back to Dallas.
CBP referred her to secondary inspection and officers used a non-intrusive examination called a Z-Portal, which revealed anomalies in Rios’ white Acura’s doors and gas tanks, according to a criminal complaint.
A drug-sniffing dog also alerted to the odor of narcotics in the doors and gas tank, according to CBP.
Authorities extracted 37 wrapped bundles from the vehicle, which CBP says tested positive for methamphetamine.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrived and interviewed Rios, who said she was going to be paid $5,000 to transport the vehicle from Reynosa to Dallas, according to the complaint.
“Rios stated she knew something was to be concealed within the vehicle but was not sure exactly what it was,” the complaint stated. “Rios stated she could assume it was narcotics.”
The DEA says she admitted that this was her second trip from Mexico to Dallas.
“Records checked revealed Rios entered the Hidalgo Texas Port of Entry in June 2021 in the same vehicle,” the complaint said. “Rios stated she transported the vehicle to Dallas, Texas and an unidentified male picked up the vehicle and provided her with a $5,000.00 payment.”
Rios made a first appearance Wednesday in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano, who ordered her temporarily held without bond pending probable cause and detention hearings scheduled for early next week, court records show.
