A Mexican man trying to cross into the United States through the Donna port of entry was arrested for smuggling nearly 80 pounds of cocaine hidden within his vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.
Daniel Estrada Ayala, who was born in 1971, was charged with knowingly and intentionally importing cocaine into the U.S. from Mexico.
On Sunday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found an anomaly in the bed of Estrada’s Toyota Tacoma after scanning it through the use of a Z-Portal X-ray inspection system.
During a secondary inspection, officers found what appeared to be numerous vacuum-sealed packages with writing on them, according to the report.
Officers had to remove the vehicle’s gas tank to retrieve the 31 packages.
During questioning, Estrada said he was convinced to transport the packages into the U.S. for financial gain by people he didn’t know.
Estrada added that his vehicle was taken and returned to him loaded with the drugs two days later. He was instructed to drop the vehicle off at a store in order for them to retrieve the packages.
Estrada also told officers he had never smuggled drugs before and that his passenger and wife, Esmeralda Yanet Yanez-Garcia, had no knowledge of the situation.
Estrada had his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker on Monday morning.
