Federal officials recently found and seized more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine, valued at about $20 million, that was hidden beneath the floorboards of a flatbed trailer at the Calexico Port of Entry, authorities said.
The massive bust, described as Southern California’s second largest of 2026, took place Monday, July 27, according to U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman Kelly Thornton.
In court documents, prosecutors described the illicit cargo as “tremendous amount of drugs, even by the standards of this district,” according to a DOJ statement.
Drugs concealed beneath shipment of rebar
The cocaine was concealed beneath the floorboard of a flatbed trailer attached to a commercial truck, beneath a load of 269 bundles of rebar, officials said.
“Customs and Border Protection officers, working with agents from Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration, X-rayed the trailer and observed anomalies in the floorboards,” according to the statement.
“A drug-sniffing dog alerted to the trailer,” the DOJ stated. “After unloading the rebar, officers unscrewed the planks from the wooden floor of the trailer and discovered they were stuffed with drugs.”
A total of 366 packages of cocaine, amounting to 1,002 pounds of the drug, were seized.
The driver, identified as 44-year-old Jose Manuel Lopez Lopez of Mexicali, was taken into federal custody.
According to a criminal complaint filed against him, Lopez “stated he picked up the truck and trailer from a truck lot used by his employer in Mexicali, Mexico, and was instructed to travel to Phoenix, Arizona.” Lopez denied knowing about the cocaine.
He pleaded not guilty to a charge of importing cocaine at an arraignment hearing on Tuesday, July 28, authorities said. A detention hearing was scheduled for Aug. 3.
If convicted as charged, Lopez faces a potential minimum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life behind bars.
Cross-border tunnel bust
The recent border bust was the second largest of the year in Southern California, surpassed only by the discovery of a cross-border tunnel in May, in which more than a ton of cocaine with an estimated street value of $45 million was discovered, prosecutors said.
Four men were arrested in connection with the alleged smuggling tunnel, which ran just under 2,000 feet from Tijuana to a retail storefront near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry at a depth of 55 feet, federal officials said at the time.
The complex tunnel included reinforced walls, a rail system, a ventilation system and electrical wiring, according to prosecutors. Four men were arrested.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: $20M worth of cocaine found hidden inside big rig at Calexico border
Reporting by Brian Day, Victorville Daily Press / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brian Day, Victorville Daily Press | USA TODAY Network
