Javier Castro Flores, a 44-year-old Mexican citizen, was arrested in San Benito Tuesday after a routine traffic stop. According to San Benito police, Flores was driving the vehicle in which approximately four pounds of marijuana was allegedly found in the back seat of his vehicle. (San Benito Police Department photo)
By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
What was supposed to be a routine traffic stop turned into a bust when four pounds of marijuana were discovered in a vehicle Tuesday, March 8 at approximately 12:30 p.m.
San Benito Police Officer Guadalupe Ayala stopped a white 1999 Ford Explorer on the 500 block of East Expressway 83. As Ayala began to interview the driver, 44-year-old Mexican citizen Javier Castro Flores, who allegedly identified himself with a Mexican identification card, according to Lieutenant Martin Morales of the San Benito Police Department (SBPD).
“Officer Ayala noticed that the guy was extremely nervous; (he) was shaky and his hands were shaking,” Morales said. “Ayala started to get suspicious, because when somebody starts acting that way during a traffic stop, it’s one thing to be nervous but he was showing extreme nervousness.”
Morales said Ayala asked the suspect if he had anything in the vehicle, to which the man reportedly said no.
“Ayala asked him if he could take a look, and he gave consent to search the vehicle,” said Morales. “Ayala searched the vehicle and saw a cardboard box taped up in the backseat.”
According to Morales, the man claimed not to know what was inside the box, but said that he was taking the box somewhere.
“In other words, his story was not matching up with what was going on,” said Morales. “Ayala became suspicious about what was going on, so he called in a canine unit. The canine alerted them about the box, and once the box was opened there was a total of four pounds of marijuana inside the box.”
The marijuana was divided into two two-pound packages and wrapped in plastic, an estimated street value of $600.
The lieutenant said Flores was charged with possession of marijuana, a third degree felony, and was given a $40,000 bond during his arraignment Wednesday morning. Morales said Flores would be transferred to Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito. U.S. Customs and Border Protection currently has an immigration detainment on Flores because of his Mexican nationality.
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