Two women remain in federal custody after they were charged with smuggling cocaine across an international bridge in Brownsville in two separate incidents, authorities said.
Alondra Isaias, 31, of Brownsville was arrested Wednesday after she attempted to smuggle eight pounds of cocaine through the B&M International Bridge in Brownsville, authorities said.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Isaias was traveling across the bridge in a 2016 Nissan Sentra and gave a negative declaration to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the bridge. She was sent to a secondary inspection area where a search of her vehicle led to the discovery of packages concealed within the center console, officials said.
The packages tested positive for cocaine, the federal criminal complaint read. While being questioned by the officers Isaias admitted she knew drugs were concealed in her car and she was going to be paid once she returned to Mexico, according to authorities.
Isaias made her initial appearance Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ignacio Torteya III, who ordered she be held without bond. Her next hearing is scheduled for June 30 before Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan.
Quenberli Morales, 44, of Mexico, was arrested Tuesday at the B&M International Bridge after she attempted to smuggle more than 26 pounds of cocaine, a federal criminal complaint states.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer referred her vehicle to a secondary inspection area due to a computer-generated alert, the federal criminal complaint reads.
A further inspection of Morales vehicles revealed ten bundles “concealed with a fabricated compartment along the vehicle’s rocket panels,” according to the federal criminal complaint. The bundles contained a white, powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine, officials said.
According to the federal criminal complaint, Morales admitted to knowing she was transferring drugs from Mexico into the United States.
Morales appeared Wednesday before Torteya who also ordered she be held without bond. Her next hearing is scheduled for June 30, before Morgan.
