$774,000 dollars worth of cocaine seized in Brownsville // Customs and Border Protection Photo
A Matamoros man is behind bars after authorities allegedly found $774,000 dollars worth of cocaine hidden inside the floor of his SUV.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers arrested 40-year-old Jose Elpidio Jara-Hernandez on federal drug charges on Monday.
The Matamoros man drove up from Mexico in his 1999 Isuzu Trooper at Brownsville’s B&M International Bridge.
Customs officers sent Jara-Hernandez to secondary inspection where a K-9 officer allegedly found 10 packages with 24.2 pounds of cocaine.
Federal court records show that the drugs were hidden in a special compartment in the rear floor of the SUV.
Jara-Hernandez appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio in Brownsville on Tuesday morning.
Investigators reported that Jara-Hernandez is a Mexican national who lives in Matamoros.
Judge Recio denied bond for Jara-Hernandez until a Friday morning hearing.
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