775 Pounds of Cocaine Found on Truck at Border Crossing

An unemployed Calexico man was arraigned Friday before a U.S. Magistrate in El Centro after U.S. Customs agents searched his otherwise empty bread truck and found 775 pounds of cocaine valued at $38 million, authorities said.

Eduardo Salgado-Sandoval, 38, was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Joseph Schmitt and charged with importation of a controlled substance and held in lieu of $1 million bail, a court spokeswoman said.

He was transported to Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego and is scheduled to appear Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Diego.

If convicted, Sandoval, a U.S. citizen who has addresses in both Calexico and Mexicali, Mexico, faces 10 years to life and a fine of up to $4 million, authorities said.

At about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sandoval was diverted to a secondary inspection point at the Calexico port of entry by a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service inspector who thought Sandoval appeared nervous, said Rudy Murillo, an INS spokesman.

There, a dog used by Customs for narcotics detections signaled the presence of drugs in Sandoval’s long bread truck, said Bobbie Cassidy of the Customs Service.

While doing a detailed inspection, agents found a 6-inch compartment between the ceiling and roof running the length of Sandoval’s 20-foot truck. Inside the specially built compartment, agents found 775 pounds of cocaine, she said.

The shipment, contained in 341 paper- and plastic-wrapped packages, was the largest ever seized at the Calexico entry point, authorities said.

Customs has seized 10,470 pounds of cocaine at Southern California ports of entry so far this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, contrasted with 203 pounds during the corresponding period last year, Cassidy said.

So far this fiscal year, inspectors at the Calexico port of entry have seized 1,983 pounds of cocaine.