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A 22-year-old Matamoros woman accused of smuggling cocaine at a Brownsville international bridge said she was trying to replace a load of the drug that had been seized at a Donna international crossing, a federal criminal complaint states.
Rosa Marie Perez appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ignacio Torteya III for her initial hearing. Her next hearing is scheduled for May 18.
Perez is being held without bond.
According to the federal criminal complaint, Perez attempted to cross the Gateway International bridge Wednesday. Her white Ford expedition was sent to a secondary inspection area for an inspection.
When U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers searched her vehicle, they found 10 bundles of cocaine, totaling 23 pounds within a false compartment located behind the vehicles glove compartment, a federal criminal complaint reads.
Perez told the officers she was transporting the drugs from Mexico into the U.S. to be delivered to an unknown person.
“Perez admitted she was repaying the debt for a previous cocaine load that was intercepted by law enforcement in Donna, Texas, where her boyfriend was arrested,” the federal criminal complaint states.
A check of records showed that Perez’s boyfriend had been arrested for possession of cocaine that was concealed within a vehicle that entered the U.S. at the Donna Texas port of entry, according to the federal criminal complaint.
