OZONA, Texas — A suspected drug smuggler trying to move four kilograms of cocaine from the Texas border to Connecticut drew the suspicion of authorities because he used a bag with the U.S. National Guard logo on it. The value of the seized cocaine ranged from $160,000 near the Texas border to $640,000 at its final destination.
The arrest came when a U.S. Border Patrol agent at the Falfurrias checkpoint got information about an upcoming drug load and stopped a passenger bus that was travelling north, according to court records obtained by Breitbart Texas.
One of the agents went into the bus and asked Hector Samuel Perez, a 26-year-old legal resident from Mexico, where he was headed. Perez said he was headed to Houston to see his sister; the agent’s suspicions had been peaked because he saw that the traveler had a shoulder bag with the National Guard logo on it.
In the court records, a DEA agent wrote that Border Patrol agents routinely encounter smugglers who use military uniform or logos to try to get by.
Court records do not show if Perez was in fact a member of the national guard, however Breitbart Texas recently reported on an active duty U.S. soldier who wore his uniform while allegedly trying to smuggle two women past the same checkpoint.
A drug sniffing dog went into the bus and found two cocaine bundles near Perez’s seat. The agents then had all the passengers get out of the bus and that is where they found two additional bricks strapped to Perez’s back.
A DEA agent interviewed Perez who said that he was going to be paid $6,000 to get the drugs to Hartford Connecticut and that he had four other bundles in his apartment in the border city of Mission.
Follow Ildefonso Ortiz on Twitter @ildefonsoortiz
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