Overview
- Federal officers at the Calexico Port of Entry found 366 packages of cocaine concealed beneath the wooden floorboards of a commercial flatbed trailer, weighing more than 1,000 pounds and valued at over $20 million.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection ran an X‑ray scan that showed anomalies and a narcotics‑detection dog alerted before officers removed the floorboards and recovered the drugs.
- The truck’s sole occupant, Jose Manuel Lopez, 44, was arrested and charged with importing cocaine and pleaded not guilty at his initial federal court appearance; a detention hearing is scheduled for Aug. 3.
- Prosecutors say Lopez faces a statutory 10‑year mandatory minimum prison term and a potential maximum of life if convicted, and they described the quantity as unusually large for the district.
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office called the seizure the Southern District of California’s second‑largest cocaine bust this year, with the only larger case involving a May discovery of more than a ton of cocaine linked to a cross‑border tunnel.