Nineteen million dollars worth of cocaine was seized earlier this month after police were given a tip by a trucker.
The 323 pounds of cocaine were discovered in a shipment of Mexican potato chips in Hidalgo County, Texas, on Tuesday, May 2nd.
According to San Antonio Express News, “International Wholesales and Trade,” the apparent business responsible for the shipment of potato chips, had raised the suspicions of the DPS through “several indicators of criminal activity at [the] warehouse.”
Jesus Salvador Gonzales-Mendoza and Hernan Mena-Real, the men working the warehouse, gave DPS agents permission to search the location. A drug dog indicated the presence of drugs in the warehouse, however no contraband was found during the initial search.
After leaving the warehouse, DPS agents stayed in the area and spoke to a trucker leaving the facility.
The trucker informed the agents of “suspicious” pallets, which she refused to haul.
After speaking to the driver, the agents returned to the warehouse. Gonzales-Mendoza and Mena-Real granted the agents permission to conduct another search. This time, they discovered 133 packages of cocaine mixed in with a shipment of Mexican potato chips.
Gonzales-Mendoza and Mena-Real, both Mexican nationalists, were arrested at the warehouse on federal drug charges and are currently in a San Juan Jail.