Man Previously Jailed In Mexico On Drug Charges Sees Trend With Teacher Drug Case

Was it a coincidence or is it a trend?

An El Paso school teacher remained in a Mexican jail Tuesday night for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs. Her story sounded very similar to a local doctor, who earlier this year was imprisoned on suspicion of smuggling drugs.

In January, Mental Health and Mental Retardation therapist Dr. Justus Opot and his co-worker, Marisol Perez, were released after spending nine days in the Cereso prison.

Opot told ABC-7 his and Martinez Amaya’s arrest are a definite trend and no coincidence.

“It takes you to be in that experience to feel how she’s feeling and I know how she’s feeling right now, ” said Justus Opot.

It’s been almost five months since the rehab therapist was in the Cereso prison in Juarez.

“I was really really worried because I didn’t know anybody there,” said Opot.

When he heard the news about the El Paso teacher at La Fe Prep school, 35-year-old, Martinez Amaya, he was horrified.

“It kind of brought back my own experience. A lot of similarities,” said Opot.

He said being wrongly imprisoned in a Mexican jail is the worst experience of his life.

“It was a nightmare,” Opot said.

Just like in Martinez Amaya’s case this past Thursday, a suitcase with the same amount – 110 pounds of marijuana – was found in the trunk of his Perez’s car as they were heading to work in El Paso.

“She takes the Stanton Bridge and Marisol too, she takes the Stanton bridge, also I noticed the bags looked like similar bags, ” said Opot, who strongly believes Martinez Amaya is telling truth.

“He asked me if I could open it and I said it didn’t belong to me so he opened it and he found the drug inside,” said Martinez Amaya in an interview from inside the Cereso prison.

Opot said he believes Martinez Amaya when she had no idea the drugs were in the trunk of her car.

“It makes me think they’re preying on innocent people,” said Opot.

The biggest difference in their stories is that Opot found the drugs before attempting to cross and turned the drugs over to Mexican police,

”Luckily enough for Marisol I was going to the gym that day so I opened her trunk so I could put my bag that was the only way we found it,” Opot said.

Opot strongly believes the drugs were planted in both cases.

“She has nothing to do with this. This is just an unfortunate situation,” Opot said.

Another difference is that Martinez Amaya is a Mexican national who’s been working under a special visa.

Opot is a naturalized U.S. citizen.

He said he still lives part time in Juarez and urges everyone who crosses back and forth into the U.S to check and double check your vehicle because he says it can happen to anyone.