Border Patrol Agents Seize $3 Million In Narcotics

Agents working at U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints near El Centro said they intercepted three separate drug smuggling attempts over the weekend, preventing more than $3 million in narcotics from making it to the streets, according to a news release issued on Monday.

The first incident happened on Thursday at 7:20 p.m. when a canine search team’s reaction to a Toyota Tundra passing through the Highway 86 checkpoint near Westmoreland sent the vehicle to a second inspection.

Agents using a large imaging system found something strange in the pickup’s tires. Inside, they said found 61 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $1.9 milllon.

On Friday, agents said they discovered more than 1,300 pounds of marijuana hidden inside an international cargo truck transporting produce.

The incident happened at 10:30 p.m. when another canine team sent a vehicle to a second inspection. The driver, a 21-year-old male U.S. citizen, was arrested after agents found more than $1 million worth of marijuana hidden throughout several boxes of watermelon.

On Monday, agents assigned to the Calexico Border Patrol All-Terrain Unit discovered several bundles of marijuana hidden in the desert about 19 miles east of Calexico.

They said found the bundles north of Interstate 8 in Imperial County after they followed the foot tracks of several backpackers who had illegally crossed the border into the U.S. from Mexico.

The bundles of marijuana weighed about 70 pounds and were given an estimated street value of more than $56,000.

The backpackers avoided arrest by heading back into Mexico.

In each incident, agents said all suspects were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the narcotics and vehicles.