Border Patrol agents find 27 pounds of meth hidden in gas tank of SUV

El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a 35-year-old man suspected of smuggling methamphetamine at the Highway 86 checkpoint on Saturday morning. Authorities said the man approached the checkpoint at about 11:30 a.m. in an Infiniti SUV.

A canine team alerted agents to the man’s SUV and agents began a secondary inspection. Agents ended up finding 25 sealed packages hidden in the SUV’s gas tank. The packages tested positive for methamphetamine, according to a news release.

The methamphetamine weighed 27.29 pounds and is estimated to cost $87,328 on the street, agents said in the release. The man is a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. He was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Agency where the investigation continues.

According to agents, El Centro Border Patrol has stopped a few similar smuggling schemes that utilized vehicle gas tanks in the past month. Cocaine and heroin was found in one gas tank and 67 packages of methamphetamine were discovered in another.

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