Federal officers seized more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine concealed beneath the wooden floorboards of a commercial truck's attached flatbed trailer at California's Calexico Port of Entry. Authorities estimated the narcotics to be worth more than $20 million.

The truck's only occupant, driver Jose Manuel Lopez Lopez, 44, entered the United States from Mexicali, Mexico. Officers arrested him after discovering 366 packages hidden within the trailer. The cocaine weighed 1,002.13 pounds, or 454.56 kilograms. The shipment also included 269 bundles of rebar.

Inspection reveals hidden contraband

Customs and Border Protection officers X-rayed the attached flatbed during the routine border inspection. The scan revealed anomalies in the trailer's wooden floorboards. A drug-sniffing dog subsequently alerted officers to the equipment. Investigators unloaded the rebar before removing the planks and finding the packages stuffed beneath them, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported.

The Calexico Port of Entry, located in California's Imperial Valley along one of the busiest commercial freight corridors connecting Mexicali and the U.S. Southwest, processes substantial daily cargo volume, making large-scale concealment attempts a persistent challenge for inspectors.

Homeland Security Investigations agents and Drug Enforcement Administration personnel assisted in the inquiry. Prosecutors described the quantity as "a tremendous amount of drugs, even by the standards of this district." (U.S. Attorney's Office release)

The seizure marked the Southern District of California's second-largest cocaine recovery in 2026. The largest occurred in May, when a months-long task force investigation into a supposed retail store near Otay Mesa led agents to discover a 1,933-foot cross-border tunnel stretching from Tijuana to the business. Authorities estimated the passage reached 55 feet deep and included reinforced walls, rails, ventilation, and electricity. Investigators found the tunnel's exit beneath a storage-room floor at the Buy 4 Less store, with a hydraulic lift concealing the access point.

Federal prosecutors charged four people after officers seized 1,029.60 kilograms of suspected cocaine — 2,269.87 pounds — valued at more than $45 million in that May operation. (U.S. Attorney's Office release)

Driver pleads not guilty

Lopez pleaded not guilty during his federal arraignment on July 28. U.S. Magistrate Judge Lupe Rodriguez Jr. scheduled his detention hearing for Aug. 3 at 10 a.m. Court records list the case as number 26-mj-08705. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Benjamin and Lawrence Casper are prosecuting.

Prosecutors charged Lopez with importing cocaine into the United States under Title 21, U.S. Code, Sections 952 and 960. The charge carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years, with a maximum of life in prison upon conviction.

The California Homeland Security Task Force investigated and prosecuted the matter through Operation Take Back America, a federal initiative targeting transnational criminal organizations and cartels operating along the southern border. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigative work.

The federal charge remains an accusation. Lopez is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.