Man arrested for 43 pounds of meth

A 46-year-old Mexicali man, whose occupation was listed as a school teacher, was arrested Saturday at the west port of entry for allegedly attempting to smuggle more than 40 pounds of suspected methamphetamine.

Carlos A. Cota-Castro was taken into custody at 9:35 a.m. by Homeland Security Investigations agents and booked into county jail without bail on suspicion unlawful importation of a controlled substance, county Sheriff’s Office arrest records stated.

According to a federal court complaint released Tuesday, Cota-Castro was referred to secondary inspection after a Customs and Border Protection officer noticed the sending unit of the vehicle in which he was traveling had scratch marks around it.

A canine detection team alerted to the vehicle, a 2008 Nissan Altima, under the seat where the fuel tank sending unit was located.

The rear seat was removed, and upon further inspection, signs of tampering were seen around the sending unit.

The sending unit was opened and packages were seen concealed inside the tank.

A total of 40 packages tied together with string were removed from the gas tank.

The packages, which field-tested positive for meth, had a total weight of 43.65 pounds.

Man arrested for drug smuggling

A 25-year-old Mexicali man was arrested Tuesday at the Andrade port of entry for allegedly attempting to smuggle more than 40 pounds of methamphetamine.

Oscar Medina-Salgado was taken into custody at 7 p.m. 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 and narcotics detector dog at the port of entry alerted to the vehicle Medina-Salgado was traveling in.

In secondary inspection, the vehicle, a 2001 Honda Civic, was placed on a lift and Customs and Border Protection officers recovered 41 packages concealed within different factory cavities of the vehicle.

Officers discovered 15 packages in the firewall voids, 24 packages inside the door panels and vehicle and two packages in the trunk quarter panel area.

The packages field-tested positive for meth, and had a combined weight of approximately 43.65 pounds.

Convicted rapist arrested

On Saturday morning, El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a convicted sex offender, a Customs and Border Protection news release stated.

Around 11:35 a.m., agents assigned to the El Centro Station arrested a man suspected of illegally entering the U.S. approximately 17 miles west of the Calexico port of entry.

The man was arrested and transported to the El Centro station to confirm his identity and evaluate his criminal and immigration history.

Agents conducted records checks that identified the man as 33-yearold Mexican national Sixto Alejandro Ortiz.

Records checks also revealed Alejandro is a convicted sex offender.

Alejandro was convicted in 2014 in Alabama for first degree rape, which he served a twoyear prison sentence.

Alejandro was subsequently removed from the United States after serving his sentence.

Alejandro is being held in federal custody pending prosecution for re-entry after removal.

— Vincent Osuna, vosuna@ivpressonline.com