11.92 pounds of cocaine seized in Leap Year drug smuggling attempt / Customs and Border Protection Photo
A Matamoros man remains behind bars in the Rio Grande Valley after he allegedly tried to smuggle $381,000 worth of cocaine on Leap Year.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers arrested 42-year-old Jose Luis Castillo-Lopez on a federal drug smuggling charge on Wednesday.
Court records show that Castillo-Lopez drove up from Mexico at Brownsville’s B&M International Bridge in a white 1999 Dodge Intrepid.
Customs officers allegedly found five packages with 11.92 pounds of cocaine worth $381,000 dollars hidden in the floorboard of his car.
Castillo-Lopez appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio in Brownsville on Thursday morning.
Investigators told Action 4 News that Castillo-Lopez is a Mexican national who lives in Matamoros.
Judge Recio denied bond for Castillo-Lopez until a Monday afternoon hearing.
Court records show that Castillo-Lopez was the only suspect charged for drug smuggling at Cameron County’s four international bridges on Wednesday, which was Leap Year.
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