MCALLEN, TEXAS (AP) -- A federal judge in McAllen has ordered a South Texas sheriff's deputy held without bond for his alleged role in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy.
Federal prosecutors say Duval County Sheriff's deputy Ruben Silva took $5,000 in payment and planned to smuggle cocaine in his sheriff's department vehicle from the Rio Grande Valley north through the Border Patrol inland checkpoint. He was arrested Thursday.
A Drug Enforcement Administration informant and undercover drug task force officers participated in the bust which included arrests of two others with whom Silva was allegedly conspiring.
A complaint filed in federal court suggests that another deputy could be involved, but the identities of two co-defendants remained under seal.
No attorney was listed for Silva. The Duval County Sheriff did not immediately return a call for comment.
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