A cocaine bust that started with a stop at an international bridge ended with federal agents tearing apart a stash house in Mission, pulling out dozens of duct-taped bricks of narcotics, a loaded gun and a stash of cash. Two men, Carlos Guadalupe Bautista and Sergio Enrique Navarro, now face federal charges after agents say they recovered about 121 pounds of cocaine between a search of the residence and a hidden package tucked under the hood of a Dodge Charger.
The case traces back to Oct. 13, when Homeland Security Investigations McAllen responded to the Anzalduas International Bridge after a smuggler was caught trying to cross with 14 pounds of cocaine, according to MyRGV.com. That smuggler identified a residence in Mission as a stash house where narcotics were being offloaded, per the criminal complaint cited in the outlet's reporting, setting off a surveillance operation that would unravel over the following days.
Surveillance Leads Agents to a Tandem Drive
Federal agents began watching the Mission residence on Oct. 23, and soon spotted a white Cadillac leaving the property. Its driver sped off and changed lanes repeatedly with no apparent destination, behavior agents interpreted, based on their training and experience, as counter-surveillance meant to shake off anyone watching, the outlet's report notes.
The Cadillac eventually left alongside a white Dodge Charger, with the two vehicles traveling in tandem. The Charger peeled off into a neighborhood in San Juan while the Cadillac drove past the San Juan area and returned to the Mission address about 10 minutes later, according to the same account.
Traffic Stops and a Hidden Brick Under the Hood
At about 12:18 p.m., agents watched both vehicles leave the area again, and law enforcement moved in with simultaneous traffic stops. Bautista was behind the wheel of the Charger with Navarro riding as his passenger, the report states. A K-9 unit alerted on the Charger, and when officers searched it, they found a single duct-tape-wrapped brick concealed inside a backpack tucked under the hood near the engine.
The Cadillac's driver, meanwhile, told police she lived with Bautista and Navarro at the Mission residence. Agents executed a search warrant at the house later that day.
Dozens of Bricks, Cash and a Loaded Gun Inside the House
Inside the residence, agents discovered 47 duct-tape-wrapped bricks of suspected narcotics along with currency, a bag containing a green leafy substance and a loaded gun. One brick pulled from the Charger and one from the house both tested positive for cocaine, and altogether agents say they recovered about 121 pounds of the drug between the vehicle and the residence.
Bautista and Navarro have been charged with possession with intent to distribute roughly 121 pounds of cocaine. Per the complaint described by the outlet, Bautista took responsibility for the narcotics and admitted to putting the brick inside the Charger, though he said he had forgotten it was there. Navarro admitted to accompanying Bautista to move drugs from Mission to San Juan and said he had previously helped Bautista load vehicles.
The two men appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano on Monday morning for their initial appearance and are scheduled to return Wednesday for a preliminary examination and detention hearing.
Part of a Larger Pattern Along the Border
This is not the only large stash-house seizure reported recently in Mission. In a separate case, the DEA and Texas Department of Public Safety say they seized roughly 180 pounds of cocaine, finding 72 brick-shaped packages wrapped in aluminum foil and plastic inside a three-bedroom house, according to ValleyCentral.com. Agents in that case also reported recovering more than $700,000 in cash, with currency bundles found in the master bedroom and inside a kitchen freezer. It remains unclear whether that case is connected to the investigation involving Bautista and Navarro, and the two should be treated as separate matters based on available reporting.
Large-scale trafficking busts have been a persistent feature of the Rio Grande Valley border region. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that Border Patrol agents in the sector seized nearly 90 pounds of cocaine valued at over $2.7 million in a single week, along with more than 1,700 pounds of marijuana and 17 pounds of liquid methamphetamine, according to a release from CBP. The agency notes that its seizure statistics are pulled from live systems and can shift due to corrections or pending cases.
Mission has seen federal cocaine prosecutions before. A McAllen federal jury convicted a Mission resident of possessing roughly 50 kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute, according to a past announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas. For now, the outcome of Wednesday's detention hearing for Bautista and Navarro has not been reported.
