McALLEN, Texas–Border patrol agents arresting a suspected drug trafficker near the edge of the Rio Grande got an unexpected surprise when they found a handgun on the man’s waistband.
Daniel Martinez–from Laredo–remains in federal custody without bond after U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker refused to set bond for him on Monday pending a detention hearing later this week. The hearing was cancelled on Tuesday when Martinez waived it.
According to court records obtained by Breitbart Texas, U.S. Border Patrol agents responded to an area on the southern part of Laredo on Thursday where a U.S. National Guard Helicopter spotted a group of men on the American side of the border loading bundles into a white SUV.
As the Border Patrol agents rushed to the area they saw the white SUV drive off; in the spot where the truck had been they found abandoned marijuana bundles. Soon after, the driver of the SUV made a U-turn and drove back the area where the agents had been left the vehicle and ran off on foot which gave the agents an opportunity to catch him, court records show. Authorities seized close to 220 pounds of marijuana.
During the arrest, authorities found a handgun strapped to the suspected smugglers waistband which they seized; court records don’t specify the brand, caliber or model of the weapon.
On Friday, agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration met with Martinez who told them that he needed money to pay bills and a man whom he didn’t identify offered to pay him $500 to pick up the load and take it to another location.
Follow Ildefonso Ortiz on Twitter @ildefonsoortiz.
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