A Mexican man was arrested at the Hidalgo Port of Entry Tuesday after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found 15 bundles of cocaine in his vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.
Jose Manuel Martinez-Hernandez, who was born in 1990, was charged with illegal importation of a controlled substance.
Hernandez tried to enter the United States in a black 2014 Jeep Compass, the complaint said.
During the primary inspection, an officer received a computer-generated alert on Hernandez’s vehicle and he was referred to a secondary inspection, where Hernandez began to behave suspiciously, according to the document.
“[Officers] observed Hernandez avoid eye contact and appeared startled when questioned,” the complaint said.
At this point, officers used an imaging system to scan the vehicle for anomalies and found 35 pounds of cocaine hidden within the rear passenger quarter panel, according to the report.
During an interview with authorities, Hernandez said he suspected he was smuggling some type of narcotics and that he was being paid $2,000 a week to “check on merchandise at warehouses in the U.S. and to do other things,” the complaint said.
He added that he would travel to different locations when he was in the U.S. and that unknown people would take the “target vehicle.”
Hernandez is set to appear before Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano for a detention hearing on Friday, court documents say.
