Fentanyl dealers charged for smuggling drugs in tire wheel to take them from Houston to Laredo

HOUSTON – Prosecutors have charged two Texas men for trying to smuggle fentanyl in a tire wheel to take them from Houston to Laredo.

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According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas, Hernan Cortez, 40 of Houston brought in half a kilogram of fentanyl into Laredo on August 28. That’s where investigators said he planned to meet up with a Laredo resident and his drug-dealing partner, Daniel Elizondo, 37.

The next day, court records said Cortez brought the fentanyl to a stash house where Elizondo was. A report claims Elizondo left the stash house with a black satchel bag and walked into an alleyway next to an adjoining property. Shortly afterward, Elizondo was seen without the bag.

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An executed search warrant found 507 grams of fentanyl hidden inside a tire wheel in the alleyway, where Elizondo was.

The two are facing up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible fine of up to $10 million.