Football
Tom Marshall, Mexico correspondent 7y

Club Tijuana's Daniel Gomez detained for suspected drug trafficking

A Club Tijuana youth team player was arrested and detained on April 5 and charged with attempting to import a controlled substance into the United States. 

Daniel Gomez, 21, a defender for Xolos' third-division team, was initially reported missing and family members sent out messages looking for him. But the San Diego Union-Tribune reported this week that he had been arrested at the border and accused of trying to smuggle methamphetamine into the United States. 

A complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California in San Diego charges Gomez with trying to bring nearly 48 pounds of packaged meth over the Otay Mesa border crossing inside the spare tire and panels of the vehicle he was driving.

Gomez, who is a U.S. citizen, has denied the charges.

He remains in custody after a judge declared him to be a flight risk after a hearing on Tuesday, according to the newspaper report, which cites the court records and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to the newspaper report, Gomez was arrested after he tried to enter the U.S. from Mexico at the Otay Mesa border crossing in his Chrysler Sebring. He told a Customs and Border Protection officer that he was traveling to the U.S. for work. The officer searched Gomez's car and observed that the spare tire in its trunk had hard spots and wasn't the usual weight, court records said.

The car was then inspected with an X-ray machine and a second officer cut the spare open and found 23 packages made of plastic wrap, carbon paper, cardboard and packing tape. A probe found a crystal substance that later tested positive for meth, the newspaper said, citing court records.

Club Tijuana hasn't made a statement as yet. Gomez is coached by former Mexico international Fernando Arce.

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