Thread: TX: Matamoros Cop & 3 Others Caught in Drug Bust

Matamoros Cop, Three Others Caught in Drug Bust

Thursday , April 12, 2007 Posted: 07:29 PM


Four Caught in Drug Bust


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Thursday , April 12, 2007
Tip Led Police to $100,000 Worth of Drugs

Thursday , April 12, 2007
Matamoros Police Officer Arrested
Raid happened at Brownsville Country Club

BROWNSVILLE - A Matamoros cop sits in the Cameron County jail, along with three others arrested in drug raid.

Investigators say they were caught with more than 600 pounds of marijuana. Police also seized a scale, wrapping material, and a bulletproof vest.

We're told all the suspects are Mexican nationals.

Investigators say the DA's Special Operation Unit and the Constable's Office raided the apartment. It's attached to a house in the Brownsville Country Club.

Silvia Lahoz tells us she felt safe in the neighborhood and was surprised at what happened just across the street from her house.

NEWSCHANNEL 5 talked to the man who owns the home. He wouldn't talk on camera. But he says he didn't know anything about his tenants or what they were doing.

We've learned the homeowner's been cleared of any wrongdoing and will not face any charges.

http://www.newschannel5.tv/2007/4/12/96 ... -Drug-Bust

more on this story....

Matamoros officer to be arraigned on drug charges

BY JOSÉ BORJÓN/The Brownsville Herald
April 12, 2007 - 11:37PM

The Matamoros police officer arrested Wednesday in a Brownsville Country Club drug bust will be arraigned today on charges of possession of marijuana.

Agents with the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office raided a home Wednesday afternoon at 245 Las Villas Ave. arresting off-duty Matamoros police officer Alvaro Camacho, 35. Others arrested were Julio Rincon, 32, Roberto Mesa, 20, and Jose Alvarez, 22, all of Mexico. The drug sting netted more than 600 pounds of marijuana, according to officials.

Cameron County Assistant District Attorney Gabriela Garcia told reporters during a press conference Thursday afternoon that an anonymous caller alerted authorities through the Crime Stoppers Hotline and informed them of “a lot of activity at the home, people coming and going at all times.”

Shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday, about a dozen agents with the district attorney’s Special Investigations Unit moved in and asked its tenants for consent to search the home, Cmdr. Miguel Sanchez said.

A total of 646 pounds of marijuana were found in two separate closets inside, Garcia said.

Other items found were a bulletproof vest and a scale used to weigh drugs, she said.

If the marijuana had made it past the U.S. Border Patrol Sarita Checkpoint, it would have had a street value of close to $500,000, officials with the district attorney’s office said. In Brownsville, 600 pounds of marijuana is worth about $100,000, Sanchez said.

He said agents took about two hours to round up the drugs.

Sanchez said agents found Matamoros police credentials in Camacho’s wallet.

Matamoros officials were notified that Camacho had been arrested on drug charges, Sanchez said.

Officials with the Matamoros Police Department declined to comment, saying they would release a statement today.

A late model Chevrolet Lumina was impounded during the raid.

Thursday night, all men were being held at the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito on second-degree felony charges of possession of marijuana.

Only Mesa was arraigned Thursday by a Cameron County magistrate judge, who set bond at $75,000 on the charge.

The other three will be arraigned today.

If convicted, the men could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine not to exceed $20,000, according to the Texas Penal Code.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/onset? ... ticle.html