What started out as a routine traffic stop in Laredo, Texas turned into a drug bust of more than 170 pounds of marijuana as well as the arrest of a previously deported illegal alien earlier this month.
The Laredo Morning Times reports that on June 5, local authorities pulled over a gray Grand Marquis after the driver ran through a stop sign. However, when police searched the driver's vehicle, authorities were alarmed to find such a large quantity of drugs within his car. The suspect, a 33-year-old man named Jorge Salvador Cavazos-Garza, was trafficking approximately $40,000 worth of narcotics in total in his vehicle.
After Laredo police ran a background check, they also discovered that Cavazos-Garcia had been previously removed from the country and re-entered through the southern border at some point.
"I congratulate our deputies for a job well done. These drugs are known to be part of organized crime. If you know of any crimes being committed, please call our 'Report Your Competition' hotline at 956-415-BUST (2878)," said Sheriff Martin Cuellar in a statement.
Laredo's geographical position has made it somewhat of a hot zone for illegal alien-related narcotics confiscation.
In 2017 Customs Border Patrol agents confiscated $3.2 million pounds of crystal meth from two Mexican nationals attempting to smuggle the substance through the Laredo Port of Entry at the southern border.
“These significant narcotic seizures are examples of the remarkable border security work our CBP officers undertake on a daily basis,” Port Director Gregory Alvarez, Laredo Port of Entry said at the time. “Our officers remain vigilant and continue to be successful in keeping these narcotics off our streets and away from our youth.”
Cavazos-Garza is currently being held without bond in a local jail.