Woman busted after taping cocaine to legs

El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Indio Station arrested a woman Wednesday morning after they found over a pound of cocaine taped to her body.

The arrest happened at the Highway 86 checkpoint around 9:45 a.m.

Agents said the 22-year-old woman, a U.S. citizen, was riding with a ‘raitero’ (unlicensed taxi) in a Hundai Sonata. The driver was a 67-year-old man.

A Canine Detection Team alerted agents to the car and the woman admitted that she had illegal substances taped to her upper thigh area.

She was transporting two packages of cocaine that had a combined weight of 1.3 lbs. Agents said the cocaine is valued at more than $13,000.

The woman and narcotics were turned over to the D.E.A. for further investigation, according to the release. The driver of the car is a Lawfully Admitted Permanent resident and he was also taken into custody for investigation.

Last fiscal year, El Centro Sector seized more than 148 lbs. of cocaine.