Three men have been arrested after being caught with nearly 402 pounds of cocaine in the Houston region.
Daniel Teniente-Marfileno, Efren Pinales Hernandez, and Pablo Luis Fuentes Rivas were arrested on Saturday and charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.
The three were supposed to make their initial appearance in Brownsville federal court on Tuesday afternoon.
According to a criminal complaint, the investigation began on Friday when special agents from the Galveston Drug Enforcement Administration got information that a white Peterbilt tractor with a white utility trailer was loaded with drugs and traveling north on Highway 77 from the Rio Grande Valley.
DEA investigators eventually tracked down the vehicle in Wharton, Texas, and followed it to Houston, where they witnessed Hernandez and Rivas interacting with the driver.
“The tractor trailer then departed the location and drove to a private truck lot in Baytown, TX,” the complaint stated. “Upon arriving at said location, the tractor sustained a mechanical failure in the street in front of the property.”
Hernandez, who had been observed at the prior location, arrived in a black Ford Ranger with Rivas to assist the tractor driver in repairing the vehicle. Meanwhile, a black Ford F-150 driven by Teniente-Marfileno arrived, and the guys moved the stalled tractor and trailer to a farm.
According to the complaint, agents observed Hernandez and Rivas opening and entering the trailer’s rear access doors while Teniente-Marfileno stood by the trailer doors.
“The driver later stated he could hear Hernandez and Rivas in the trailer moving around and making a lot of banging noises as if dropping or throwing objects,” the complaint stated.
After about 20 minutes, Teniente-Marfileno’s Ford F-150 left the site, and Hernandez approached the driver and gave him $200.
According to the complaint, the Baytown Police Department then stopped the vehicle, and police discovered bundles of cocaine inside.
Meanwhile, Galveston DEA officers and local law enforcement discovered Hernandez and Rivas walking away from the tractor and trailer, and 15 giant packages of cocaine were located in their vehicle.
