Border Agents Nab $215,000 in Meth at I-5 Checkpoint

Editor's Note: The following is the text of a release from the U.S. Border Patrol:

U.S. Border Patrol agents on Wednesday, apprehended two suspected drug smugglers in separate events, resulting in the seizure of more than 100 pounds of cocaine and methamphetamine worth $1.13 million.

The first event occurred around 1:15 p.m., after agents encountered a 30-year-old female Mexican national sitting in the driver’s seat of a 2002 Jeep Cherokee parked at an Interstate 5 rest area near Oceanside. Agents questioned the woman whose inconsistent answers led to a consensual cursory search by a Border Patrol K-9 team.

The K-9 team produced a positive alert to the front of the Jeep. Agents searched the engine compartment and discovered 16 bundles of crystal methamphetamine concealed in the intake manifold. The drugs weighed 10.7 pounds with an estimated street value of $214,800.

About an hour later, agents encountered a 27-year-old female U.S. citizen from Arizona driving a 2004 Chrysler Crossfire as she arrived to the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 8 in Pine Valley. Agents directed the driver to the secondary inspection area where a Border Patrol K-9 team produced a positive alert to the vehicle. Agents searched the car and discovered 30 bundles of cocaine hidden inside two aftermarket compartments in the driver and passenger floorboards.

The cocaine weighed 91.5 pounds with an estimated street value of $915,400. The suspected smugglers and narcotics in both incidents were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation. The vehicles involved in both smuggling incidents were seized by the U.S. Border Patrol.