San Diego Border Patrol seizes nearly 50 pounds of cocaine

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (KESQ) - U.S. Border Patrol agents seized 19 cellophane-wrapped packages of cocaine that were removed from a car and tested near Camp Pendleton, it was announced today.  

Around 5:45 p.m. Thursday, agents from the San Clemente station stopped a sedan traveling northbound on Interstate 5, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"After a brief interview with the adult male driver, the agents requested that a K-9 unit respond to the vehicle stop,'' the agency said. "After a positive alert from the agency K-9, agents searched the trunk and discovered two white trash bags filled with cellophane-wrapped packages consistent with drug smuggling."  

Border officials said that they took the vehicle, the suspected narcotics, the driver and adult male passenger to a nearby patrol station.   

The total weight of the cocaine was 47.51 pounds, with an estimated street value of nearly $810,000, according to border officials.   

The Drug Enforcement Administration took custody of the cocaine, while the driver and passenger face suspicion of narcotics trafficking charges. The vehicle was seized by the Border Patrol.

"Rest assured that the agents of San Diego Sector are out there around the clock protecting the American people,'' San Diego Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey D. Stalnaker said. ``We will do everything within our power to stop those who would do us harm, and to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."  

The seizure the most recent in a string of Border Patrol interdictions along interstate highways in San Diego County.   

Eighteen pounds of fentanyl were seized along Interstate 15 on Feb. 19, and 143 pounds of cocaine were seized along I-5 on Feb. 18.   

To report suspicious activity to the U.S. Border Patrol contact 911 or the San Diego Sector at 619-498-9900.