EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A Texas woman is facing federal drug charges after U.S. Border Patrol agents seized more than 20 pounds of cocaine from her rental vehicle at a highway checkpoint in New Mexico.
Aurelia Madrid Marquez, 51, told agents at the checkpoint south of Alamogordo, N.M., that she was driving from El Paso to Colorado to visit a friend. As she was interviewed, another Border Patrol agent with his drug-sniffing canine partner Leon came by.
Leon immediately alerted his handler to an anomaly, and the agents sent Madrid and the 2023 white Chrysler Pacifica minivan she drove to a secondary inspection area.
Agents there found seven vacuum-sealed bundles of white powdery substance under the floorboard, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
The substance tested positive for cocaine and weighed 9.3 kilos or approximately 20 pounds, court records show.
The Border Patrol called for assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, and two agents were sent to interview Madrid in Alamogordo.
According to court records, the woman told the DEA that a man “who she works for” told her to pick up the rental, the drugs, and drive the vehicle to Denver. She allegedly told agents she witnessed another man, unknown to her, stash the seven bundles.
Madrid allegedly told the agents she would get $3,000 for delivering the drugs to Colorado.
Records show she further stated having successfully transported illegal drugs six times to Lubbock and Austin, Texas, Albuquerque, N.M., and Denver for $2,000 to $3,000 per run.
Madrid faces up to 10 years in prison on charges of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Records show she waived her June 25 detention hearing and is being held in custody pending trial.
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