U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted $310,700 worth of cocaine at the Hidalgo International Bridge last Saturday, according to a news release from the agency.
Nestor Soto-Fernandez, a Mexican national, was driving a gold colored Ford Expedition through the port of entry when officers referred the vehicle for further inspection.
The 32-year-old male said he was visiting the city of Hidalgo to go shopping at the flea market.
Authorities conducted a K-9 open-air sniff search which resulted in a positive alert to the rear end of the vehicle.
Officers noticed some tampering to the right rear panel trunk area of the Expedition so they decided to conduct a secondary inspection for an intensive examination that included a non-intrusive X-Ray of the vehicle.
The inspection revealed a total of 15 packages of cocaine concealed inside a compartment within the dashboard of the vehicle. They weighed a combined total of 40 pounds, the release said.
Soto claimed he had purchased the vehicle two-and-a-half months ago from an unknown person in Reynosa and said no mechanical work had been done to the vehicle since its purchase, but he also admitted that he had deleted messages and calls from his cellphone that same day which officers believed to be deceitful.
Soto said he didn’t know there were narcotics hidden within his vehicle.
Further investigation revealed that his vehicle was previously referred to inspections on two separate occasions which resulted in no anomalies detected, so the hidden compartment was empty during those inspections, according to a criminal complaint.
He made a first appearance Tuesday morning in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker, who ordered him temporarily held without bond pending detention and probable cause hearings scheduled for later this week.
