War on Drugs

Mexican Teens Say Van Bought at US Gov't Auction Had Cocaine Hidden Inside

Now they're in jail fighting drug-trafficking charges

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MEXICO CITY — A Mexican family says that a van bought at a U.S. government auction came with an unwanted extra: an undiscovered package of cocaine beneath the dashboard.

Sergio Torres Duarte, 18, and his 19-year-old friend Julio Cesar Moreno were driving to a soccer match in November when they stopped at a routine police highway checkpoint near the Pacific Coast resort city of Mazatlan. They say they were stunned when officers discovered a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cocaine beneath the dashboard of their blue 2004 Toyota Sienna. And they have been in jail fighting drug trafficking charges ever since.

(Hat tip to CharlesWT)