Feds: La Grulla employee smuggled drugs

May 6, 2009 - 8:12 AM
By JEREMY ROEBUCK

LA GRULLA - A city water plant supervisor faces federal drug charges for allegedly using a government truck to smuggle cocaine, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Agents with the Starr County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force arrested Lizandro Ramirez, 45, on Thursday after receiving an anonymous tip that a truck with city of La Grulla decals had been spotted picking up cocaine loads from the Rio Grande and driving them to a house in Rio Grande City.

Investigators followed the vehicle to a home on the 300 block of Third Street in Rio Grande City, where they watched it back into a garage and leave 10 minutes later.

The homeowner - Alejandro Alvarez Reyes, 32 - later admitted to agents that Ramirez had left a several bricks of cocaine in his garage and had done so on at least five separate occasions since April 11, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case.

He also pointed agents to a stash house in McAllen, where Ramirez reportedly paid Alvarez to take the drugs. During a search of that home on the 7000 block of North Fifth Street, agents discovered more than 450 pounds of cocaine in an attic.

Ramirez allegedly paid Alvarez $17,000 over the past month for his help in storing and transporting the cocaine, investigators said.

Agents stopped Ramirez as he drove away from the home, but he declined to talk to authorities.

City officials in La Grulla identified Ramirez as a two-year employee of their small municipality east of Rio Grande City, but they maintained Tuesday that the truck he allegedly used in the smuggling scheme was not a city vehicle.

"It was donated to the city, but no one ever did the paperwork to put it into use," City Commissioner Joel Zarate said. "We don't consider it a city truck."

Mayor Oscar Gonzalez suggested Ramirez had placed city decals on his personal vehicles to avoid suspicion. He said he would wait until next week to decide on the appropriate disciplinary action.

"We're not sure if he was on duty at the time," the mayor said.

In addition to Ramirez and Alvarez, authorities arrested two other men - Hector Rubio Garcia, 26, and Antonio Magana Vargas, 20, both Mexican nationals - at the McAllen stash house.

As of late Tuesday, all four men remained in federal custody pending a detention hearing set for this morning. It was not immediately clear whether any had retained attorneys.


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