A man from Texas, Aaron Balderrama, 23, has been sentenced to 37 months in prison following his conviction for smuggling cocaine into the United States. The substance was concealed in wheels of cheese in his vehicle as he attempted to cross from Mexico into the U.S. This information was disclosed in a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
Upon arriving at the Presidio Port of Entry, Balderrama informed U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers that he was carrying “a couple bags of cheese.” During a secondary inspection, officers found four wheels of cheese in his vehicle. Further examination of these cheese wheels revealed seven bundles of a substance that tested positive for cocaine.
The exact quantity of cocaine discovered within the cheese wheels was not specified in the news release. The investigation of this case was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas commented on the ingenuity of drug traffickers in disguising illicit substances and the effectiveness of port of entry agents in thwarting these attempts to smuggle drugs into the country. The interception of this unusual smuggling method underscores the ongoing efforts to prevent drugs from entering communities and the commitment to prosecuting those involved.
