More than 45 pounds of marijuana is off the streets after authorities found it hidden in a secret compartment inside a man's car.

Brownsville police arrested Jorge Ivan Montero on Thursday afternoon.

Investigators told Action 4 News that Montero drove up from Matamoros at Brownsville's B&M International Bridge.

Customs officers sent Montero's VW Passat to secondary inspection where they found 45.32 pounds of marijuana hidden in a secret compartment.

Authorities turned Montero and the drugs over to Brownsville police because the amount of marijuana did not meet the federal threshold for prosecution.

Montero appeared before a Brownsville Municipal Court judge where he was issued a $15,000 dollar bond.