Juárez traffic officer allegedly had cocaine at international bridge

By Marisela Ortega Lozano / EL PASO TIMES
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_18008613?source=most_viewed

CBP officers working at the Bridge of the Americas/El Paso discovered 11.4 pounds of cocaine hidden within a secret compartment in the rear cargo area of an SUV that entered the U.S. from Mexico on May 4, 2011. Juárez officials confirmed the driver of the vehicle as a Juárez traffic officer. (Photo courtesy of CBP.)

Officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Bridge of the Americas caught a Juárez traffic officer allegedly carrying 25.1 pounds of cocaine, officials said.

Carlos Flores Olmos, 42, of Juárez, was waiting in line at approximately 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when a CBP drug-sniffing dog alerted officers to a 2005 Toyota Rav4, driven by Flores Olmos, CBP officials said.

CBP officers started an extensive exam of the vehicle and located a compartment in the rear cargo area, a Customs spokesperson said.

Officers dismantled the compartment and recovered 10 cocaine-filled bundles weighing 25.1 pounds, CBP said in a press release.

Juárez officials confirmed that Flores Olmos works as a Juárez traffic officer. He was on vacation that day, a Juárez Traffic Unit spokesperson said.

Flores Olmos was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents and booked into de El Paso County jail where he is currently being held without bond on drug smuggling charges, CBP Public Affairs Officer Roger Maier said in a press release.

It is unclear whether Flores Olmos will be fired.

Juárez officials will release a statement about Flores Olmos' arrest later today, a spokesperson said.

"This administration won't tolerate this kind of behavior (of Juárez police officers)," an official said in a telephone interview. "We are taking steps to prevent those things from happening again.