There was something more expensive than diesel in his fuel tanks when Homeland Security Investigations special agents approached a truck driver at the Flying J in Edinburg.
Now, Rolando Salomon Garza-Aguirre, a Mexican citizen born in 1979 who the special agents actually recognized from a prior encounter, is in federal custody after authorities reportedly found approximately 908 pounds of liquid methamphetamine inside his fuel tanks.
Special agents arrested Garza on Tuesday.
A criminal complaint said the special agents were conducting surveillance at the Edinburg Flying J when they encountered Garza, who they knew from a previous encounter in January 2022.
When they approached him, he claimed he was operating a tractor-trailer, according to the complaint, which said Garza consented to an open-air sniff that resulted in a positive alert to the driver and passenger side fuel tanks.
A physical search revealed the false compartments in both fuel tanks were filled with a liquid substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the complaint.
During an interview after his arrest, the complaint said Garza told agents he believed he was in possession of narcotics and said the vehicle belonged to an unnamed co-conspirator in Mexico, who instructed him to deliver the vehicle to an unknown person in Oklahoma.
He expected to be paid, according to federal authorities.
Garza made a first appearance in McAllen federal court Thursday morning. U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis ordered him temporarily held without bond pending further court hearings scheduled for next week.
