Mexico: Cocaine found in apparent Social Security truck

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico — Mexican authorities have seized more than 800 pounds (371 kilograms) of cocaine being transported toward the U.S. border inside a truck bearing the markings of the country's Social Security Institute.

A Defense Department statement says soldiers discovered the packets of drugs hidden inside the vehicle's mobile medical scanner at a highway checkpoint Wednesday night.

The white truck's logos correspond to a government social program that serves the poor and in disaster response.

It had departed the Tamaulipas state capital of Ciudad Victoria bound for Reynosa, across the border from McAllen, Texas.

Soldiers detained three people on board who said they were employees of the Social Security Institute.

Institute spokesman Juan Goldaracena in the Ciudad Victoria district said Friday that the federal agency was investigating the incident.