Man arrested for meth, heroin

A 44-year-old man was arrested Wednesday night for allegedly attempting to smuggle more than 40 pounds of methamphetamine and more than a pound of heroin while crossing through the Andrade port of entry vehicle lanes.

Javier Ruben Galindo-Cota, a Mexican national, was taken into custody at about 5 p.m. Wednesday at the port of entry by Homeland Security Investigations agents and booked into county jail without bail on suspicion of unlawful importation of a controlled substance, county Sheriff’s Office arrest records stated.

According to a federal court complaint, a human narcotics and detection dog alerted to the rear passenger door of Galindo’s vehicle, a 2009 Toyota Corolla. Galindo was then referred to secondary inspection. After a thorough inspection of the entire vehicle, a Customs and Border Protection officer discovered what appeared to be tool mark impressions on the metal brackets of the vehicle’s rear seats.

An inspection of the seats revealed numerous plastic-wrapped packages concealed within the cushions. Four additional packages were also discovered within the rear passenger doors of the vehicle.

A total of 39 packages, which had a combined weight of 45.45 pounds, of meth were recovered from the vehicle.

An additional package, which was brown and black in color and had an approximate weight of 1.36 pounds, recovered from the vehicle field-tested positive for heroin.

A Customs and Border Protection news release stated the 45 pounds of meth and one pound of heroin had a combined estimated street value of $122,000.