EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A rancher and his wife are facing federal drug charges after allegedly returning to the U.S. from Mexico with 23.3 pounds of cocaine stashed in their pickup.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers monitoring traffic on Sunday at the Santa Teresa (New Mexico) Port of Entry noticed anomalies in a vehicle passing through a low energy X-ray portal at the border crossing.

CBP waited for the red Dodge Ram to arrive at an inspection booth to question the male driver and a female occupant. Court records show Federico Rocha Lucero and Veronica Solano stated they were going home to Albuquerque, New Mexico, after visiting relatives and staying at a ranch Rocha owns in Durango, Mexico.

Border officers sent the travelers and their pickup to a secondary inspectio

See Full Page