Feds seize 402 pounds of cocaine moved from Valley to Houston

Three men are under arrest after being caught with nearly 402 pounds of cocaine in the Houston area.

Daniel Teniente-Marfileno, Efren Pinales Hernandez and Pablo Luis Fuentes Rivas were arrested Saturday on charges of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.

The trio was scheduled to make a first appearance in Brownsville federal court on Tuesday afternoon.

The investigation began on Friday when Galveston Drug Enforcement Administration special agents received information that a white Peterbilt tractor with a white utility trailer was loaded with drugs and travelling north on Highway 77 from the Rio Grande Valley, according to a criminal complaint.

DEA agents later located the vehicle in Wharton, Texas and followed it to Houston where they saw Hernandez and Rivas speaking to the vehicle’s driver.

“The tractor trailer then departed the location and drove to a private truck lot in Baytown, TX,” the complaint stated. “Upon arriving at said location, the tractor sustained a mechanical failure in the street in front of the property.”

Hernandez, who was seen at the previous location, then arrived in a black Ford Ranger with Rivas to help the tractor’s driver fix the vehicle. Meanwhile, a black Ford F-150 driven by Teniente-Marfileno arrived and the men towed the stalled tractor and trailer onto a property.

Agents watched as Hernandez and Rivas opened the rear access doors to the trailer and entered it while Teniente-Marfileno was seen standing at the trailer doors, according to the complaint.

“The driver later stated he could hear Hernandez and Rivas in the trailer moving around and making a lot of banging noises as if dropping or throwing objects,” the complaint stated.

After about 20 minutes, the Ford F-150 driven by Teniente-Marfileno left the property while Hernandez approached the driver and provided him with cash.

The Baytown Police Department then pulled the vehicle over where police recovered bundles of cocaine, according to the complaint.

Galveston DEA agents and local law enforcement, meanwhile, found Hernandez and Rivas walking away from the tractor and trailer and recovered 15 large bundles of cocaine in their vehicle.

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