Border Patrol agents discovered nearly 200 pounds of cocaine inside a tractor trailer at a checkpoint near Falfurrias on Sunday.
Faustino Luna Perez, who was born in 1973, was arrested on a charge of possession with the intention to distribute a controlled substance after he tried to cross the drugs through the checkpoint.
According to a criminal complaint against him, Perez was visibly shaking when he arrived in a gray tractor-trailer about 6:40 p.m. Sunday.
When an agent asked Perez for his ID, his hands and breathing became shaky, the complaint said.
At the same time, a K-9 unit alerted agents to the trailer.
During a secondary inspection, the K-9 unit found multiple boxes within pallets of produce.
“… agents located approximately [40] bundles wrapped in cellophane, black tape and coated with motor oil,” the complaint said. “A field test was conducted of the bundles which tested presumptive positive for cocaine.”
According to the document, the bundles of cocaine weighed a total of 195 pounds.
Perez told agents he was contacted on Nov. 8 to transport a tractor trailer to Atlanta, Georgia. He had already crossed a U.S. port of entry on Saturday when he noticed his I-94 form said his destination was Houston.
An I-94 form is an arrival/departure record that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer attaches to a nonimmigrant visitor’s passport when they enter the U.S. The visitor must then be out of the country on or before the stamped date.
Perez said he slept in the tractor trailer, which was already loaded with produce when he picked it up, and explained a GPS inside the tractor was preprogrammed with the delivery address in Atlanta. He said he inspected the trailer to see if the produce was correctly secured.
After Perez provided agents the bill of ladings for the delivery, agents contacted the delivery company, Staff there said they were not aware of the delivery and that the documents appeared to be fictitious.
Agents also noticed the address on the bill of ladings didn’t match with the preprogrammed address on the GPS, but Perez said he always delivered to the same location in Atlanta.
Perez also admitted he believed someone might’ve put something illegal in the trailer, like marijuana, but wasn’t sure and added that he was to be paid $2,000 for the delivery.
Perez appeared before Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis for his initial appearance on Tuesday.
