MURRIETA (CNS) - A 33-year-old Mexican national accused of
transporting over $1 million worth of cocaine into Riverside County was behind
bars today, awaiting a preliminary hearing slated for later this month.Sergio Alexis Macias Padilla was arrested last week near Temecula
during a U.S. Border Patrol investigation on Interstate 15.Padilla pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Monday to
transportation of controlled substances and possession of cocaine for sale,
with sentence-enhancing allegations of carrying in excess of 40 kilograms of
the narcotic.Superior Court Judge Elaine Kiefer scheduled a preliminary hearing for
Nov. 29 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta and ordered that
Padilla be held in lieu of $1 million bail at the nearby Byrd Detention Center.
