MEXICO CITY – A city councilor from the Mexican border city of Reynosa has been arrested at a checkpoint in Texas after U.S. border patrol agents found about 93 pounds of cocaine in her car, prosecutors said.
On Wednesday, Denisse Ahumada was still listed as one of about 20 members of the Reynosa city council.
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Court records show she was arrested on June 10 at an inland security checkpoint in Falfurrias, Texas after an x-ray inspection of her SUV showed anomalies in the door panels and the seats. Border Patrol agents found 42 packages wrapped in duct tape and foil, each containing about a kilogram of cocaine.
According to prosecutors, Ahumada told agents she was supposed to have delivered the drugs to San Antonio, Texas. She also told agents she had carried such shipments before.
Ahumada did not respond to email requests for comment. She faces a charge of possession with intent to distribute drugs in the U.S. District Court for southern Texas.
Local media reported Ahumada was part of the conservative opposition National Action Party, or PAN. But in a statement Tuesday, the PAN office in the northern border state of Tamaulipas denied she was a member or supporter of the party, and condemned drug smuggling.
State party leader Luis René Cantú said Ahumada had run for office on the Green party ticket and later asked to join the PAN, but later lost contact with the party.
Reynosa is a violent border city across from McAllen, Texas that has long been dominated by factions of the Gulf cartel.