A man accused of smuggling more than 7,000 pounds of marijuana and nearly 600 pounds of cocaine who failed to show up to a pre-trial court hearing 27 years ago is in custody.
Raul Martinez-Reyes is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ignacio Torteya III this morning, where he will be arraigned on charges of bail jumping.
The drug conspiracy charges are levied in a separate 10-page indictment that dates back to 1991.
Court records indicate authorities arrested Martinez-Reyes on June 3 on a warrant issued for his arrest in April, 1992.
He is facing multiple charges of possession with the intent to distribute marijuana and cocaine, and conspiracy to do the same.
In all, federal authorities say he orchestrated the smuggling of a little more than 7,262 pounds of marijuana and a little more than 599 pounds of cocaine.
Federal prosecutors at the time said the scheme he allegedly supervised spanned from June 1, 1986, to Jan. 1, 1992.
He is also accused of paying someone $20,000 to transport drugs to Houston with a promise of paying a total of $40,000 for the effort, as well as using drug proceeds to buy businesses in Harlingen and San Benito.
Court records don’t contain any public information about what happened to Martinez-Reyes after he failed to show up to that pre-trial hearing nearly three decades ago and the arrest warrant that authorities executed on June 3 is sealed from the public.
