Agents: Suspect uses Virgin Mary to smuggle cocaine

HIDALGO -- Four hollowed-out wooden plaques of the Virgin Mary filled with cocaine were seized at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized about five pounds of cocaine after they stopped Victor Hugo Mireles-Andrade, 23, a U.S. citizen from Chicago. The drugs have a street value of almost $147,000.

Agents said Mireles-Andrade walked to the pedestrian checkpoint at the bridge and turned over his suitcase to officers for a routine x-ray examination. The x-ray revealed the cocaine inside the hollow wooden plaques.

Mireles-Andrade was transfered to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who continue to investigate the smuggling attempt. He remains in federal custody.