CBP finds 65 pounds of cocaine in Jeep at Hidalgo Port of Entry

A United States citizen was arrested Wednesday at the Hidalgo Port of Entry when Customs and Border Protection officers found over 65 pounds of cocaine in a concealed compartment within his vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.

Edwin Wrayan Gomez, born in 2001, was charged with illegal importation of a controlled substance, namely cocaine.

On that day, Gomez was entering the U.S. in a white Jeep Liberty through the Hidalgo Port of Entry from Mexico.

Gomez, the sole occupant of the vehicle, was referred to the secondary inspection area where officers discovered 25 cellophane packages, weighing over 65 pounds, in a “non-factory compartment within the vehicle.”

“CBPOs field tested the substance inside the packages which was … positive for the properties and characteristics of cocaine,” the complaint said.

In addition, officers found mechanic tools in the vehicle that seem to have been utilized to access the non-factory compartment.

Gomez declined to provide a statement.

The complaint goes on to say that database information revealed that Gomez had been driving the Liberty regularly for approximately the past six months.

The data shows that Gomez had crossed through ports of entry in the McAllen area over a hundred times.

Additionally, officers had referred Gomez to a secondary inspection during previous crossings where they found the non-factory compartment.

A CBP press release said the drugs are worth approximately $503,200.

Gomez is scheduled to appear before U.S Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker in McAllen federal court Monday morning for his preliminary and detention hearing.

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