by Sergio Chapa
Posted: 11.21.2012 at 11:15 AM
valleycentral.com

Two men are behind bars after drug smugglers allegedly led authorities to a drug bunker in Starr County.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested 45-year-old Jose Israel Gutierrez-Perez and 21-year-old Agustin Eloy Pineda-Barrientos on Monday night.

Federal court records show that a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) helicopter pilot spotted smugglers in a raft on the Rio Grande River near Escobares.

The helicopter watch a pickup truck leave the scene and head to a mobile home off Mi Ranchito Street in Roma.

Border Patrol agents arrived at the scene but several people scattered.

Records show that Gutierrez-Perez was identified as the driver of the truck and arrested while walking away from the scene.

Pineda-Barrientos was seen fleeing the from the scene and hiding underneath a home off Agustin Street.

Border Patrol agents found dozens of bundles with 734 pounds of marijuana and outside the mobile home.

Investigators were picking up marijuana when they discovered a bunker underneath a concrete slab where more bundles were hidden inside.

Both Gutierrez-Perez and Pineda-Barrientos appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dorina Ramos in McAllen on Tuesday morning.

Court records show that both men are Mexican nationals.

Judge Ramos denied bond for both men until a Monday afternoon hearing.

Smugglers lead Border Patrol agents to drug bunker in Starr County : News : ValleyCentral.com