The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced Tuesday that three men have been charged after authorities seized more than 180 kilograms of cocaine intended for the Houston area and northern states.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Pablo Luis Fuentes-Rivas, 40, of Baytown; Efren Pinales-Hernandez, 51, of Weslaco; and Daniel Teniente-Marfileno, 39, a noncitizen without legal status living in Houston, were apprehended following a surveillance operation.
According to court documents, law enforcement officers observed the three men in the early morning hours of March 29 at a Baytown truck lot unloading what appeared to be narcotics from a semi-tractor trailer into another vehicle.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Teniente-Marfileno drove away from the scene with the suspected narcotics.
Following that, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop and seized the cocaine bundles from the vehicle, according to the US attorney’s office.
The United States Attorney’s Office reported that they apprehended Fuentes-Rivas and Pinales-Hernandez as they attempted to leave the truck lot.
The office confirmed that the cocaine weighed 182.25 kilograms and had a street worth of roughly $2.3 million.
According to the US attorney’s office, if convicted, each defendant could face life in prison and a $10 million fine.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, the inquiry is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation.
OCDETF disrupts and dismantles major drug trafficking organizations through a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven strategy that coordinates efforts across federal, state, and local agencies, according to the office.
