Border Patrol seizes meth in separate busts on HWY 111 & HWY 86

El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents from the Indio Station made two separate busts within an 11-hour period this week. Both cases involved the smuggling of methamphetamine.

The first incident happened Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. at the Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 111.

An unauthorized cab driver, known in Spanish as a ‘raitero’, was driving a Chevy Malibu with a 36-year-old passenger. Both men are from the U.S., but only the passenger is in trouble with the law because agents found his backpack full of meth in the trunk of the car.

The secondary inspection of the car was issued after a canine alerted agents to the car.

The backpack was holding six packages of methamphetamine which weighed 6.52 pounds and is estimated to be worth $20,864. The passenger in the custody of the Drug Enforcement Agency, agents said in a release. The unauthorized cab driver was released.

The second arrest happened Thursday at 7:50 a.m. when a 32-year-old man approached the Highway 86 checkpoint in a Ford Explorer. According to agents, a closer inspection of the man’s vehicle led to the discovery of eight packages of methamphetamine wrapped in cellophane inside the inner tube of the spare tire.

The narcotics weighed 25.57 pounds with an estimated street value of $81,824.

The man is also from the United States. He, the narcotics and his SUV were handed over to the D.E.A. for further investigation.

“Our K-9 agents play a vital role in the safeguarding of our communities by helping prevent dangerous drugs such as these from reaching our city streets,” said Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David S. Kim.

El Centro Sector Border Patrol has seized more than 587.33 pounds of methamphetamine in fiscal year 2017, according to the release.