Mexico Trucker Online

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - A state trooper has been charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine after police said they saw him accept two suitcases full of the drug in a parking lot.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement that Department of Public Safety Trooper Jesus Rafael Larrazolo, 35, made his first appearance in federal court Monday. DPS spokeswoman Lisa Block said Larrazolo resigned shortly after his arrest Friday.

Brownsville police and agents from the FBI’s Special Investigations Unit saw Larrazolo pull into a Best Buy parking lot next to another vehicle, then take two suitcases from it. Larrazolo was dressed in street clothes, but identified himself as a trooper when police approached. He was carrying a gun.

There were 26 kilograms of cocaine in the suitcases. According to court records, Larrazolo told a Texas Ranger after his arrest that he had been forced by threats to pick up the drugs.

Block said Larrazolo joined the department in October 2002 and was working as a commercial vehicle enforcement officer in Cameron County. The FBI is investigating the case.

It was not immediately clear from court records if Larrazolo had an attorney.

Border Patrol agents seized more than 1,400 pounds of marijuana over the weekend in four separate busts, according to Laredo Sector Border Patrol

The most recent seizure occurred Monday at Texas 16 traffic checkpoint.

Hebbronville agents observed a white pickup truck heading northbound make an abrupt U-turn prior to reaching the checkpoint.

Agents observed the driver of the vehicle pull onto the south side of the road and exit the vehicle.

The driver quickly jumped over a barbed wire fence and fled into the brush.

Agents saw several bundles of marijuana wrapped in cellophane in plain view inside the passenger seat and in the bed of the pickup truck.

One hundred individually wrapped bundles of marijuana, weighing 620.7 pounds and valued at $496,560, were recovered from the truck.

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McALLEN -(The Monitor) The former owner of an Edinburg. Texas trucking business was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday for his role in a drug smuggling and money laundering ring.

A federal jury in Houston found Ricardo Garcia Heredia, 44, of McAllen, guilty in May of multiple counts of conspiracy and drug possession.

Prosecutors allege Garcia used his business - Edinburg-based Earth Transportation - as a front to recruit drivers for cocaine shipments that passed through the Rio Grande Valley on their way to Chicago.

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Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents made several drug seizures in the past few days, netting an estimated $5.6 million worth of illegal drugs.The latest case occurred Monday morning when agents working at the Interstate 35 checkpoint inspected the driver of a 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo after a service canine alerted toward the car.

Agents found 24 cellophane-wrapped bundles hidden behind the interior side panels near the back seat.

Twenty-three of the bundles contained methamphetamines weighing 52.4 pounds with an estimated value of $1.6 million.

The last bundle contained 2.4 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $76,800.

The drugs, the driver and the vehicle were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Agents working at the I-35 checkpoint made another seizure Sunday.

In that case, agents were conducting an immigration inspection on the driver of 1995 GMC Suburban when a Border Patrol canine alerted toward the rear of the vehicle.

The vehicle was referred for secondary inspection. Agents found 30 cellophane-wrapped bundles inside the gas tank containing about 75 pounds of cocaine with an estimated value of $2.4 million.

The drugs, the driver and the vehicle were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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NUEVO LAREDO (MTNS) Almost 3 tons of marijuana was seized Monday outside the town of Camargo by units of the First Motorized Calvary, on routine patroi.

Military units discovered two SUV’s abandoned next to a canal on a ranch close to town and upon investigation, found they contained 276 packages of marijuana wieghing 2,852 kilograms

.It appeared the vehicles and their contents had been abandoned and no arrests were made. The drugs and vehicles were truned over to the AFI for further investigation.

To date, as part of operations on the border to combat narcotics, the First Motorized Calvary stationed in Nuevo Laredo have seized more than 14 tons of marijuana and 51 kilos of cocaine.

Cd Camargo is approximately 60 miles south of Nuevo Laredo and reputedly a stronghold of the Zeta’s, enforcement arm of the Gulf cartel.

Nuevo Laredo. - More than 4 tons of marijuana in addition to other drugs and pirated CD’s,were destroyed yesterday by personnel of the Army in the presence of federal, state and municipal authorities.

Operativo Permanente, has resulted in the seizure of enormous amounts of narcotics in Nuevo Laredo, Nuevo Guerrero, Cd. Mier, Miguel Alemán, Díaz Ordaz y Camargo, according to spokesmen from the First Motorized Cavalry regiment, headquartered in Nuevo Laredo.

The contraband was turned over to the Military and State and local authorities by the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR), after being used as evidence in administrative and legal proceedings

The contraband was incinerated at Cuarentenaria Station, located on the Ribereña Highway, between Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa.

The destruction of the goodies was overseen by members of the local Subdelegation of the PGR, of the Federal Agency of Investigations (AFI), the Army, the Preventive Federal Police (PFP) and the Municipal Police.

Among the items destroyed were various chemicals from a clandestine laboratory in the Municipality of Miguel Aleman that were part of a meth lab.

Also destroyed were more than 50,000 pirated CD’s seized in raids around the city.

This is more evidence of President Calderon’s ongoing effort to fight organized crime and corruption in Mexico.

Mexico deserves and needs the $1.4 billion dollar aid package recently approved by Congress to fight the cartels. Mexico does not need US interference or boots on the ground however. Calderon is quite capable of turning this country around.