A Texas sheriff arrested and charged a Reynosa, Tamaulipas, city councilwoman on state drug possession charges after a U.S. federal judge dismissed the federal charge and ordered her release. Federal authorities arrested the Mexican border city politician after finding more than 42 kilograms of cocaine inside her vehicle.
Brooks County Sheriff’s Office deputies took Denisse Martinez Ahumada into custody after she was released from federal custody. Court documents revealed that a justice of the peace in Brooks County ordered she be held without bond on the charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance. After the hearing, authorities booked Ahumada into the Hidalgo County Jail.
The state charges against Ahumada come just one day after U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan Alanis in McAllen, Texas, dismissed the federal charges against her. Court documents revealed that the judge ruled there was no probable cause in the case.
As Breitbart Texas reported, federal authorities arrested Ahumada after U.S. Border Patrol agents found 42 kilograms of cocaine in her vehicle at the U.S. Highway 281 Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint. A criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration revealed that during questioning by U.S. Border Patrol agents, she claimed to have previously transported drugs.
However, the information from the criminal complaint was not supported by the testimony of DEA Agent Nicholas Landsman during the hearing, Dave Hendricks from the Progress Times reported. During the hearing, the agent revealed that Ahumada’s vehicle set off a law enforcement alert, and after being referred to a secondary inspection area, agents x-rayed the vehicle and found the drugs.
The agent testified that Ahumada had been threatened in Mexico into moving a loaded vehicle, the Progress Times reported. The woman reportedly drove to Monterrey and then drove back to Reynosa one day before her arrest in Falfurrias. However, during the hearing, defense attorney Samuel Reyes got the agent to confirm that Ahumada apparently did not know that the vehicle contained cocaine when authorities found the drugs. Prosecutors tried to allege that a reasonable person knew that there was something illegal, however, based on the information Alaniz ruled that there was no probable cause and dismissed the charges.
Ahumada is a city councilwoman in the Mexican border city of Reynosa, her arrest caused much controversy in Mexico as various political parties used it to attack each other.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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