South Texan Gets 20 Years for Cocaine in Cooler

A South Texas truck driver has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for trying to smuggle nearly $1 million worth of cocaine stuffed in a cooler in his rig.

A federal judge in Laredo on Tuesday sentenced 40-year-old Israel Garza of Mission. Garza in December pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than 2 pounds of cocaine.

Border Patrol agents last September arrested Garza at a checkpoint near Hebbronville. A drug-sniffing drug alerted agents to an ice cooler in the cab.

Investigator say the cooler appeared to be bulging. Agents confiscated a dozen vacuumed-sealed packages of cocaine worth about $976,000.

Garza acknowledged he was delivering drugs for a Mexican drug cartel.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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