Crime & Safety

Border Patrol Stops Car, Finds $6.7 Million Worth of Cocaine

Boxes in the vehicle's trunk and backseat contained 53 packages of cocaine weighing nearly 700 pounds.

Border Patrol agents at the Interstate 5 checkpoint near San Clemente stopped a compact car Friday with nearly 700 pounds of cocaine worth $6.7 million.

The large seizure was equal to more than three quarters of the cocaine found by the Border Patrol in the last fiscal year.

Agents stopped the 2011 Hyundai Elantra for an immigration inspection at 1:15 a.m. The occupant, a 54-year-old man dressed in a suit and tie, told the agents that he was a U.S. citizen, but was detained for further investigation.

Find out what's happening in San Clementewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

After records checks provided proof that the man was not a citizen, he was arrested and his car searched. Boxes in the vehicle's trunk and backseat contained 53 packages of cocaine weighing 670 pounds and having an estimated street value of $6.7 million dollars. 

The suspect, vehicle, and narcotics were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Agency, for prosecution.

Find out what's happening in San Clementewith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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