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Border Patrol agents thwarted the transportation of nearly 145 pounds of cocaine by a truck driver hauling watermelons through the Falfurrias checkpoint early Wednesday morning after the driver kept displaying nervous behavior, according to a criminal complaint.
Wilber Azael Morales-Rodriguez was charged with knowingly, intentionally, and unlawfully possessing with the intent to distribute close to 145 pounds of cocaine.
At about 2:30 a.m., Morales approached the primary inspection lane for an immigration inspection of the white 2021 Freightliner tractor he was driving.
The agent conducting the inspection asked Morales where he was heading and what he was hauling, to which Morales responded with Illinois and watermelons.
As the agent continued to question Morales, he began to notice “Morales to be extremely jittery.”
“[The agent] noticed Morales was very uneasy and talking extremely fast,” the complaint said. “[The agent] stated that Morales was unable to stay still in the seat.”
The complaint stated that the agent found Morales’ behavior odd because truck drivers in the evening “tend to have a calm demeanor as the truck drivers are just on their usual delivery runs.”
After a non-intrusive free air sniff of the exterior of the tractor resulted in a positive alert, the agent asked Morales for his commercial driver’s license but he said didn’t have it. Instead, he told the agent that he had a picture of it on his phone.
Morales also handed the bill of lading to the agent as he fumbled with his phone due to him looking for the picture of the CDL. It was then that the agent noticed Morales’ hand “shaking excessively.”
During the secondary inspection, another agent found four duffel bags inside the cab of the tractor which contained 49 bundles wrapped in black tape.
A test of the substance inside the bundles came back positive. The bundles weighed nearly 145 pounds.
Agents also located a Glock 26 9mm pistol loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition above the driver’s seat in the visor compartment as well as two loaded magazines containing four rounds of ammunition located inside a backpack.
During an interview with authorities, Morales stated he picked up the cocaine and was taking it to Ohio for payment.
Morales is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mitchel Neurock in Corpus Christi federal court Wednesday morning for his detention hearing.
