Religious symbols didn't bring luck in drug smuggling attempt
A Matamoros man is behind bars in the Rio Grande Valley after he allegedly tried to smuggle more than $598,000 dollars worth of cocaine into the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers arrested 27-year-old Jose Refugio Garcia-Martinez on federal drug charges on Sunday.
Garcia-Martinez drove up from Mexico at Brownsville’s B&M International Bridge in a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta.
Court records show that Garcia-Martinez appeared nervous, stiff and had religious symbols commonly used to bring good luck to drug smugglers inside his car.
Customs officers sent his car to secondary inspection where they allegedly found a package with 18.7 pounds of cocaine hidden inside the passenger rocker side panel of the Jetta.
Garcia-Martinez appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Morgan in Brownsville on Monday morning.
Investigators said Garcia-Martinez is a Mexican national who lives in Matamoros.
Judge Morgan denied bond for Garcia-Martinez until a Thursday afternoon hearing.
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