Border Patrol finds meth, heroin hidden in SUV

Border Patrol agents arrested a 44-year-old man after they found 9.6 lbs. of methamphetamine and heroin hidden inside the engine manifold of his SUV.

The incident occurred at about 3:30 p.m. Monday as the man pulled up to the Highway 86 checkpoint near Salton City. A secondary inspection was ordered for further investigation, according to a Border Patrol release.

During the inspection, agents discovered four small packages of methamphetamine and two packages of heroin hidden within the engine of the man’s 1998 Isuzu Rodeo.

The narcotics weighed 9.6 lbs. and agents estimate the drugs cost $105,690.

The suspected smuggler is a United States citizen. He was taken into custody and his vehicle and the narcotics were turned over to the D.E.A.

The drug bust was the second in three days where Border Patrol agents found drugs stashed in an engine compartment. The other bust came over the weekend when a 54-year-old man was arrested for having 8.3 lbs. of cocaine concealed in his Toyota Tundra.