Estimated $20 Million Worth of Cocaine Seized from Commercial Truck at Border
CALEXICO – Federal law enforcement officers seized more than half a 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.
It was the second-largest cocaine seizure in 2026 in the Southern District of California. The largest seizure was in May when more than a ton of cocaine estimated to be worth $45 million was discovered in connection with a subterranean cross-border tunnel.
In the most recent case, the driver and only occupant of the truck, Jose Manuel Lopez Lopez, was arrested and charged with illegally importing cocaine into the United States.
The amount of cocaine seized is considered “a tremendous amount of drugs, even by the standards of this district,” according to the government’s motion to detain the defendant. Lopez entered a not-guilty plea at his arraignment in federal court yesterday. A detention hearing is scheduled for August 3 at 10 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lupe Rodriguez Jr.
In addition to the hidden cocaine, the trailer was loaded with 269 bundles of rebar . Customs and Border Protection officers, working with agents from Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration, X-rayed the trailer and observed anomalies in the floorboards. A drug-sniffing dog alerted to the trailer. After unloading the rebar, officers unscrewed the planks from the wooden floor of the trailer and discovered they were stuffed with drugs. In total, 366 packages of cocaine weighing 1002.13 pounds (454.56 kilograms) were removed from the trailer.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Benjamin and Lawrence Casper.
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Importation of Cocaine – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 952 and 960
Maximum penalty: Life in prison; Mandatory minimum 10 years
INVESTIGATING AGENCIES: United States Attorney's Office; Customs and Border Protection; Homeland Security Investigations
*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
This case was investigated and prosecuted by the California Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.