Twenty-one was not a lucky number for one Reynosa man caught smuggling more than $800,000 dollars worth of cocaine into the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers arrested Gabriel Armando Acosta-Martinez on federal drug charges on Monday.
Acosta-Martinez drove up from Mexico in a 2000 Ford F-250 at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge.
According to court records, the 27-year-old Reynosa said he was coming to buy auto parts but customs officers sent him to secondary inspection.
Authorities allegedly found 12 packages with 24.7 pounds of cocaine worth $800,000 dollars hidden inside the car batteries.
Acosta-Martinez told investigators that the truck belonged to an acquaintance who paid him $500 dollars per drug smuggling trip.
The Reynosa man said he had done it at least 20 times before and that he believed that on previous trips, drug dealers might have been hiding cash inside the truck to take back to Mexico.
Acosta-Martinez appeared before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Dorina Ramos in McAllen on Tuesday morning.
Judge Ramos denied bond for Acosta-Martinez until a Friday morning. hearing.
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