CUSTOMS OFFICER APPEARS IN COURT -- INSPECTOR ACCUSED OF TRAFFICKING NARCOTICS

McALLEN - A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer is accused of
allowing pickup trucks laden with hundreds of pounds of marijuana to pass
through his inspection lane at the Progreso checkpoint, an FBI agent said
Friday during a detention hearing Friday for the officer.

Lizandro Martinez, 43, of McAllen, pleaded innocent to the nine counts of
drug trafficking he was charged with when he appeared before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Dorina Ramos on Friday.

Members of Martinez's family, who were present in the courtroom, declined
to comment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Wynne asked that Martinez and four other
people connected with the investigation be remanded, or held in custody
with no chance for bail.

Roberto Dominguez, 43, of Hidalgo, appeared next to Martinez in court.
Dominguez is alleged to be the leader of the smuggling operation and a
former coworker of Martinez when the two worked at the Hidalgo Police
Department.

"They were both former officers of the Hidalgo Police Department," said
Hidalgo Police Chief Vernon Rosser, adding that the two worked at the
department a number of years ago.

Ramos made no decision Friday on whether Martinez or the others would be
released on bail and will continue the hearing Monday.

Martinez, who makes $53,841 annually, has been on paid leave for the past
three weeks, said Rick Pauza, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

While working the graveyard shift, Martinez, a customs inspector for the
past 13 years, would allow pickup trucks with bales of marijuana hidden
under tarps to pass, said Marella Ruelas, the FBI agent who was the lead
investigator in the yearlong probe.

Martinez might have worked with several smuggling operations, Ruelas said.

"There's other organizations," she said.

Dominguez would generally drive a lead vehicle through the checkpoint and
then signal the trucks with drugs in them to follow, Ruelas said.

As the drug-filled trucks passed, Martinez would turn off a device that
tracks license plate numbers, Ruelas said.

"He would turn off the license plate recorder so there wouldn't be any
record of the loaded vehicles crossing," she said.

Drivers of the pickups later interviewed by local police working with the
FBI said that Martinez would not check to see what was being crossed.

"He doesn't check who we are and what we have in the vehicle," Ruelas said,
recalling a conversation with one of the drivers. "We could be crossing
anything and everything."

If convicted, Martinez faces up to 40 years in state prison and fines as
high as $4 million.