Expired tag leads to $2.5 million marijuana bust

An expired license plate caught the attention of a Cameron County sheriff’s deputy, who ended up making one of the largest drug busts so far this year for the sheriff’s department.

The deputy pulled over a tractor-trailer rig Saturday evening on Expressway 77 near Combes. During the routine traffic stop, authorities found 3,103 pounds of marijuana hidden under loads of papayas, Sheriff Omar Lucio said Monday.

The marijuana has an estimated street value of $2.5 million.

Ramiro Gonzalez, of Progreso, the truck driver, was arrested and charged with one count of possession of marijuana. He was arraigned Monday and placed under a $150,000 bond.

Although Gonzalez’s wife, Yesenia Gonzalez, also of Progreso, also was taken into custody, she later was released pending investigation.

"It is great to get this amount of marijuana off the streets," Lucio said. "We realize that it is only just a small portion of what really travels through this area. But, by the same token, we are out there every single day like all law enforcement agencies, trying do to the best job possible for the betterment of the people."

Lucio said the deputy conducted a traffic stop at 5 p.m. on Orphanage Road near Combes, after noticing the license plates on the tractor-trailer were expired.

Ramiro Gonzalez was nervous while being questioned by the deputy, Lucio said, so the officer asked for consent to search the rig.

A drug-detecting canine alerted authorities that some type of contraband was inside.

"The dog had definitely detected that there was a strong odor of marijuana," Lucio said.

When deputies searched the rig, they found 283 bundles of marijuana packaged in yellow and green cellophane and hidden under the produce.

Authorities are trying to determine to whom the marijuana belongs, where it was picked up and where it was destined, Lucio said.

Investigators believe other suspects may be involved.