Federal authorities uncovered more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine hidden beneath the floorboards of a commercial truck entering the U.S. from Mexico, marking one of the largest drug busts in Southern California this year.
The Department of Justice said the half-ton of cocaine was discovered inside the floorboards of a commercial truck and flatbed trailer at the Calexico Port of Entry connecting California and Mexico. Authorities estimate the cocaine has a street value exceeding $20 million.
The seizure marks the second-largest cocaine bust in the Southern District of California this year, according to federal prosecutors.
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Jose Manuel Lopez, 44, a Mexican national and the truck's sole occupant, was arrested and charged with importing cocaine into the United States.
If convicted, Lopez faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum penalty of life.
In court filings seeking to keep Lopez in custody, prosecutors described the seizure as "a tremendous amount of drugs, even by the standards of this district."
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The only larger cocaine seizure in the Southern District of California this year came in May, when authorities uncovered more than a ton of cocaine worth an estimated $45 million linked to an alleged cross-border drug tunnel.
Officials said the trailer was carrying 269 bundles of rebar when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, working alongside Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration, detected anomalies during an X-ray inspection.
After a narcotics detection dog alerted officers the trailer, they unloaded the rebar and removed the wooden floorboards, where they discovered 366 packages of cocaine weighing more than 1,000 pounds, or approximately 454 kilograms, prosecutors said.
Lopez pleaded not guilty during his initial appearance in federal court Tuesday. A detention hearing is scheduled for Aug. 3.
