Federal charges were filed Wednesday after a Hidalgo police officer saw a man cross over the border wall, run to the middle of a parking lot and enter a manhole.
Police then opened the manhole and discovered Juan Daniel Alvarez Gonzalez, a Mexican citizen born in 1997, lying on his stomach approximately 40 yards from approximately 16.5 pounds of methamphetamine and nearly 74 pounds of marijuana, according to the complaint.
The officers turned the man over to Drug Enforcement Administration agents who interviewed him.
“Alvarez Gonzalez stated that he was instructed by members of the Gulf Cartel to cross the border, enter the manhole, and verify via cellular pictures that there illegal narcotics were still located in tunnel,” the complaint stated. “Alvarez Gonzalez stated that he was paid approximately $70 in case he was intercepted by law enforcement, in order to pay for a taxi back into Mexico.”
He is charged with knowingly and intentionally possession with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of meth and with aiding and abetting that alleged offense.
He made a first appearance Wednesday in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis, who ordered him temporarily held without bond pending probable cause and detention hearings scheduled for Monday afternoon, court records indicate.
