Border Agents Nab Nearly $1M in Coke, Heroin, Meth

SAN CLEMENTE, CA -- The U.S. Border Patrol Tuesday stopped two suspected smugglers on the I-5 Freeway -- one at the checkpoint south of San Clemente, the other near Oceanside.

Agents stopped a 37-year-old Mexican man driving a Nissan Sentra at the I-5 Border Patrol checkpoint. Agents became suspicious of the man, pulled him over and brought out a drug dog, according to a release from the Border Patrol.

The animal indicated that drugs were in the trunk, and agents discovered 29 bundles of cocaine and one bundle of heroin inside of a speaker box, the release states.

The cocaine weighed 84.66 pounds and had an estimated street value of $931,260. The heroin weighed 2.32 pounds and had an estimated street value of $27,840, according to the release.

The second stop happened at 7 p.m. when agents stopped another 37-year-old male Mexican national driving a 2009 Honda Accord, said Border Patrol spokesman Scott Simon.

They found him in a parking lot in Oceanside, Calif., next to the I-5. A drug dog sniffed out meth in the dashboard; agents searched the vehicle and discovered a bundle of methamphetamine hidden in the airbag compartment, the release states.

The meth weighed 1.21 pounds and had an estimated street value of $24,200, accordng to the release.

Both men were arrested. The Border Patrol seized the vehicles and turned the drugs over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.