Agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested a truck driver Friday for trying to enter the country through the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers reported finding a little more than 100 pounds of cocaine hidden inside his tractor-trailer.
Homero Ortegon Ahumada, a Mexican citizen who was born in 1989, made a first appearance Monday in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano, court records show.
A criminal complaint filed against the man says that CBP found the drugs concealed within the air tanks underneath the truck cab during a secondary inspection where a drug-sniffing dog alerted to the presence of narcotics.
A physical search of the vehicle revealed 42 wrapped packages that were covered in grease inside the air tanks, federal authorities say.
Ortegon spoke to HSI special agents and told them an unknown person in Mexico hired him to transport unknown types and quantities of narcotics into the country for a $1,000 transportation fee, according to the criminal complaint.
The suspect is scheduled for another court appearance on Thursday afternoon regarding any probable cause challenges and for any argument regarding the setting of a bond.
