Border Patrol Seizes $1.1 Million in Meth at San Clemente and San Diego Checkpoints

Editor's Note: The following is the text of a press release issued by the U.S. Border Patrol this afternoon.

U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Interstate 5 and Interstate 8 checkpoints thwarted two narcotics smuggling attempts resulting in the combined seizure of more than $1.1 million of methamphetamine in one day.

At approximately 4:05 p.m. last Thursday, agents encountered two 19-year-old male United States citizens as they arrived at the checkpoint driving a silver 2003 Toyota Corolla. During inspection, agents became suspicious of the pair’s inconsistent answers to their questions and referred them for a secondary inspection. 

A Border Patrol K-9 team performed a cursory inspection of the vehicle resulting in a positive alert to the driver’s side doors.  Agents searched the vehicle and discovered a hidden compartment inside a speaker box located in the trunk.

Inside the compartment, agents found 24 bundles of methamphetamine with a total weight of 30.98 pounds and an estimated street value of $619,600. The suspected smugglers and drugs were taken into custody and subsequently turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The vehicle was seized by the U.S. Border Patrol.

The I-5 checkpoint seizure was the Border Patrol’s second of the day following a $470,000 meth seizure at the I-8 checkpoint in east San Diego County.

Agents discovered 30 bundles totaling 23.5 pounds of the illicit narcotic in a non-factory compartment inside a vehicle’s rear bumper.  In total, the two meth seizures are worth nearly $1.1 million on the street.