A trucker has been charged with importing more than half a ton of cocaine.
According to a news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, federal agents seized more than a half-ton of cocaine worth more than $20 million hidden in the floorboards of a commercial truck and attached flatbed trailer at the Calexico Port of Entry.
The Southern District of California reported the second-largest cocaine seizure in 2026. The largest seizure occurred in May, when more than a ton of cocaine valued at $45 million was uncovered in a subterranean cross-border tunnel, according to the announcement.
In the most recent case, the truck’s driver and sole occupant, Jose Manuel Lopez Lopez, was detained and charged with illegally trafficking cocaine into the United States. Conviction involves a minimum sentence of ten years and a maximum of life in prison.
The amount of cocaine confiscated is deemed “a tremendous amount of drugs, even by the standards of this district,” according to the government’s application to detain the defendant. Lopez filed a not guilty plea during his arraignment in federal court Wednesday. A detention hearing is planned for August 3 at 10 a.m. before United States Magistrate Judge Lupe Rodriguez Jr.
In addition to the hidden cocaine, the trailer included 269 bundles of rebar. Customs and Border Protection officials, along with agents from Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration, X-rayed the trailer and discovered irregularities in the floor boards. A drug-sniffing dog alerted on the trailer. After unloading the rebar, detectives unscrewed the boards from the trailer’s wooden floor, discovering they were loaded with cocaine. A total of 366 cocaine packages totaling 1002.13 pounds (454.56 kilograms) were recovered from the trailer.
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