A Matamoros teenager is behind bars in the Rio Grande Valley after he allegedly tried to smuggling $419,200 dollars worth of cocaine into the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers arrested 18-year-old Rigoberto Palacios-Ramirez on federal drug charges on Thursday morning.
Court records show that the Matamoros teen drove up from Mexico at Brownsville’s B&M International Bridge at 9:49 a.m. Thursday.
Customs officers sent Palacios-Ramirez to secondary inspection where authorities found five packages with 13.1 pounds of cocaine hidden in the dashboard of his 1996 Jeep Cherokee.
The Matamoros teenager appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio in Brownsville on Friday morning.
Investigators told Action 4 News that Palacios-Ramirez is a Mexican national who lives in Matamoros.
Judge Recio denied bond for Palacios-Ramirez until a Thursday afternoon hearing.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT