Woman charged after being found with 82 pounds of cocaine at Progreso bridge

A United States citizen who resides in Mexico was arrested at the Progreso port of entry after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered her to be in possession of 82 pounds of cocaine concealed inside her vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.

Selenia Del Carmen Hernandez-Zamora was charged with illegally importing 82 pounds of cocaine on Thursday.

On that day, Homeland Security Investigation McAllen received a request for assistance from CBP.

Officers had detained Hernandez when she attempted to enter the U.S. with about 82 pounds of cocaine concealed within the rear quarter panels of the vehicle she was driving.

“Database records revealed that Hernandez was the registered co-owner of the vehicle she was operating and made several international crossings operating the vehicle,” the complaint said.

During the primary inbound inspection, Hernandez stated that the purpose of her trip was to drop her son off at school in Progreso.

She was referred for further inspection after officers discovered a system generated alert indicating Hernandez may be involved in narcotics smuggling, according to the complaint.

Once at the secondary inspection, her vehicle was driven through a non-intrusive inspection X-ray which revealed several anomalies in the rear quarter panels of the vehicle.

“A physical search of the vehicle was conducted and a total of 35 rectangular shaped bricks containing white powdery substances were discovered concealed within both the rear drivers and passenger side quarter panels,” the complaint said.

During an interview with special agents, Hernandez stated she was hired by an individual in Mexico to transport the narcotics into the U.S. from Mexico.

She added that she successfully smuggled narcotics at least two times prior and that she was going to be paid $1000 for the unsuccessful act.

Hernandez made her initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano in McAllen federal court Friday afternoon.

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