Crystal meth, cocaine, ammunition discovered during traffic stop

It wasn’t the smell of drugs that alerted Brownsville police to a Nissan Altima traveling down FM 802; rather it was the speed that the vehicle was moving that prompted the officers to stop the car.

The nervousness that Hector Castillo, 21, of Brownsville, and Fernando Gonzalez Alvarez, 31, of Matamoros, displayed indicated to the officers that this was not going to be any routine traffic stop for a mere traffic violation, said Brownsville police spokesman Eddie Garcia on Tuesday.

The traffic stop happened at 6:30 p.m. at the 400 block of FM 802 on Monday.

“The individuals were very nervous and that was very suspicious as far as their actions. The investigation lead to the discovery of cocaine inside,” Garcia said. “It was luck that the officer came across this.”

A search of the 2007 Nissan Altima lead to the confiscation of a powerful drug – nearly 26 pound of crystal meth - that is not commonly found in Brownsville, police said.

Authorities also confiscated 46.23 pounds of cocaine. Police later went to a nearby storage shed where they seized some 584 assault rifle magazines and more than 300 rounds of ammunition.

The seized drugs have a combined street value of about $1.2 million, police said.

Authorities believe the seizure is somehow connected to an unknown drug cartel.

Castillo and Gonzalez are in police custody.

For more on this story read Wednesday's Brownsville Herald.