BP: Surveillance stops drug shipment

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested three men as they were trying to conceal more than 260 pounds of marijuana, officials said.

Guadalupe Garcia, Orlando Hernandez and Samuel Bautista were arrested late Wednesday in the La Paloma subdivision, near the Los Indios International Bridge, after USBP agents found them to be in possession of 265.5 pounds of marijuana, court records show. The men were later charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, according to a criminal complaint. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is further investigating the seizure.

On Friday morning, the men went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronal Morgan, who ordered they be held without bond pending a detention hearing on October 14 and remanded them to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

The arrests took place when Border Patrol agents set up a surveillance operation in the subdivision, after receiving a tip that a group of men would be moving narcotics to a stash house near Espinoza Road, records show.

The agents then spotted the men moving furtively and hiding in nearby irrigation canals, USBP said.

Agents arrived at the scene and made contact with Garcia and the two other men, who were lying on top of several large bundles, records show.

The men were placed under arrest when the bundles field-tested positive for marijuana, USBP said. The following morning, the men and the drugs were turned over to DEA agents, records show.