A driver moving drugs using a tractor trailer was stopped in Rio Grande City and arrested after a traffic inspection by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers last week, according to a Tuesday news release.
The trooper, who was working under the Operation Lone Star initiative, made the stop on U.S. 83 in Rio Grande City on Friday. The driver of the tractor trailer was sent to the Pharr port of entry, where the trooper determined there were inconsistencies with the driver’s destination and the cargo.
Fifteen bundles of cocaine weighing 42 pounds were found hidden in an altered compartment inside the trailer.
The drugs were estimated to be worth $345,000.
The driver was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and taken to the Starr County jail.
Since Operation Lone Star began in March 2021, DPS reports they’ve seized more than 7,000 pounds of cocaine statewide.
