McALLEN, Texas — A Hidalgo County bailiff is facing federal charges after FBI agents claimed he helped two men steal loads of cocaine.

This week, Oscar De La Cruz, a bailiff at Hidalgo County Court 6, went before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker who formally read the charges against the lawman and ordered he be held without bond. De La Cruz is facing a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.

FBI agents with the public corruption task force arrested De La Cruz late last week at the Hidalgo County Courthouse. Records obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed that the arrest came after an investigation that began in October 2017 when an informant told agents that he paid a person to get him police documents claiming that drug loads were seized.

In South Texas, drug smugglers often steal from drug cartels in Mexico and cover up the theft by claiming official seizure. Breitbart Texas reported on multiple cases where law enforcement officers provided drug smugglers with forged documents.

According to the criminal indictment, the informant contacted the agents with a second informant who then revealed that De La Cruz was the bailiff who provided court documents claiming that various cocaine shipments were seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Hidalgo Court Bailiff by ildefonso ortiz on Scribd

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.

Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.