Two men from Wisconsin and Oklahoma landed in the Webb County Jail this week. They were arrested after a huge drug bust at the Laredo port.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) says it seized more than 153 pounds of drugs. They were in one commercial vehicle. That load included 94 pounds of fentanyl.
DPS says that fentanyl comes out to "more than 19,868,181 potentially lethal doses." That count comes from DPS.
It all started on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were at the Laredo Port of Entry. They asked DPS for help.
At 7 a.m., special agents from the DPS Criminal Investigations Division answered that call.
A check of a commercial vehicle turned up four kinds of drugs, DPS says. There were 94 pounds of fentanyl. There were 26 pounds of meth. There were 18 pounds of heroin. There were also 15 pounds of a drug called eutylone.
DPS puts the street value of the drugs at more than $1.4 million.
Most people have never heard of eutylone. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says it is a man-made stimulant. On the street, it goes by the name "bath salt." The DEA says it hits the brain in ways like meth, cocaine and MDMA. It has no approved medical use in the United States. It belongs to a family of drugs that the DEA says can cause seizures and even death.
DPS agents took over the case. They arrested the driver, Ernesto Jaime, 53, of Wisconsin. They also arrested the man riding with him, Enrique Ramirez Valle, 51, of Oklahoma.
Webb County jail records list Jaime's home town as Madison, Wisconsin. The records list Ramirez Valle's home town as Oklahoma City.
DPS says both men are charged with felony possession of a controlled substance. In plain words, that means having illegal drugs. It is a serious crime.
The jail records show a longer list of charges. Each man was booked on three counts of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance. Each of those counts is for 400 grams or more. Each man also faces a fourth count of that charge. That one is for a different type of drug. In plain words, this charge is about making drugs or passing them on to others.
Each count carries a $100,000 bond, the records show. Both men were still in jail as of Friday, Sept. 25.
DPS says the bust was part of Operation Lone Star. That is the state's border security push. DPS called it a joint operation with federal authorities.
Laredo sits just up the river from Zapata and Starr counties.
What comes next is not clear yet. DPS has not said if federal charges will follow. DPS also did not give a court date for either man.
Neither man has been found guilty of any crime. The charges are only claims at this point.
Everyone is presumed innocent until proved otherwise.