Liquid meth hidden in gas tank
VALLEY MORNING STAR
BROWNSVILLE — A woman accused of attempting to smuggle liquid methamphetamine concealed in a gas tank into the U.S. sobbingly told officers she was crying because her husband died, court testimony revealed.
“Pretrial services has spoken to the family, and the husband is not dead,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel Castro told a federal judge during a Friday morning hearing for 45-year-old Waco resident Eliza Mendoza.
Federal agents arrested Mendoza Tuesday after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the B&M International Bridge discovered a hidden compartment in the gas tank of the 2005 Chevrolet TrailBlazer she drove that tested positive for liquid methamphetamine weighing at least 50 grams, according to a criminal complaint.
Authorities revealed Mendoza is accused of smuggling a little more than 100 pounds of methamphetamine in a liquid solution, which still needs more analysis to determine exact amount. A HAZMAT team responded to the Gateway International Bridge, where the vehicle was moved, to extract the alleged drugs from the gas tank, court documents and testimony show.
Mendoza told CBP officers she was returning from Matamoros to pick up her husband’s vehicle, which was being repaired there after it had broken down in December in Brownsville, and just learned her husband died so she was in a hurry to get back to Waco, according to HSI Special Agent Rudy Garcia.
According to the story Mendoza apparently told authorities, she and her husband visited Brownsville in December because he was terminally ill and had never seen the border, which is something he wanted to do before he died, when the vehicle broke down, according to court testimony.
A man named Juan Lopez let Mendoza borrow a car and offered to fix the vehicle in Mexico, Garcia said of Mendoza’s story. However, the HSI investigation into Mendoza’s story quickly revealed inconsistencies, according to Garcia’s testimony.
For instance, bridge records do show that she crossed alone into Mexico twice in December, but contrary to her alleged statement that that was the last time she crossed, those bridge records show she crossed into Mexico on March 17 at the Hidalgo Port of Entry, according to Garcia’s testimony.
Furthermore, vehicle records indicate she bought the vehicle, which is registered in Mendoza’s name, in October 2017 in Houston and there was no evidence of the engine work, push valve repair and starter replacement work she told authorities about, according to court testimony.
Mendoza’s court-appointed attorney told Morgan that authorities have provided no evidence that her client had any knowledge there was methamphetamine in the vehicle, and argued that the woman was not a flight risk because her entire family is in Waco and she won’t return to Mexico.
Morgan ordered a $100,000 bond with a $10,000 deposit on the condition that if Mendoza does post bond, she undergo a mental health evaluation and take any medications ordered by a licensed practitioner.
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