A U.S. citizen was detained at the Hidalgo Port of Entry for attempting to smuggle approximately 126 pounds of methamphetamine on Thursday, according to court documents.
Gabriel Cordova-Lopez was attempting to enter the U.S. when CBP agents referred him and his vehicle to an intensive examination after the initial inspection where he declared negative for food, weapons, drugs and currency over $10,000.
An X-ray scan of the vehicle revealed anomalies within the floor of the vehicle.
Agents conducted a physical search of the vehicle afterward and found 73 tape- and cellophane-wrapped packages.
The substance inside the packages were revealed to have properties and characteristics to methamphetamine after a field test conducted by CBP agents, the document reads.
A Homeland Security Special Agent and a Task Force Officer responded to the Hidalgo POE to assist in the investigation where Cordova stated he was hired by a person in Mexico to transport what he was told to be U.S. currency.
Cordova also stated that the vehicle was provided by people he knew were Mexican drug traffickers, according to the document.
Homeland Security had interviewed Cordova earlier this year in February and was told he was working for known drug traffickers and was advised to stop.
Cordova is currently on probation in Texas after being convicted of smuggling approximately 5 pounds of methamphetamine strapped to his body into the U.S. from Mexico through the Brownsville B&M international bridge in June 2020.
