Border Patrol makes $150K meth bust in Salton City
Border Patrol agents arrested a woman suspected of smuggling methamphetamine inside a hidden compartment near her engine in Salton City on Saturday. The discovery was made at an El Centro Sector Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 86.
The incident occurred at 11:50 a.m. when a 38-year-old woman approached the checkpoint for a preliminary inspection. The Border Patrol’s canine inspection team was alerted during the search, and the vehicle was then waved along for a more thorough search.
During the secondary inspection, the agents found 40 packages of methamphetamine weighing 48.59 pounds in a modified structure near the 2007 Saturn Outlook’s engine compartment. The woman, a U.S. citizen, was then handed over to Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
It is estimated that the confiscated methamphetamine had a street value of $160, 347. In the 2018 fiscal year, agents from El Centro Sector border patrol have seized more than 314 pounds of methamphetamine.
