Crime & Safety

VIDEO: Border Patrol Seizes 38 Lbs. of Coke

Watch the Border Patrol search a suspected smuggler's car at the I-5 checkpoint south of San Clemente.

U.S. Border Patrol agents seized 38 pounds of cocaine at the I-5 checkpoint south of San Clemente Wednesday.

Agents stopped a 24-year-old male United States citizen driving a 2006 Ford Fusion at 12:20 p.m. at the checkpoint, according to a Border Patrol release.

Agents thought the man looked nervous, so they brought out a drug dog to sniff around the car. The dog indicated there were drugs in the car, where agents found 12 bundles of cocaine concealed in the vehicle’s rocker panels. 

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The cocaine weighed 38.45 pounds and had an estimated street value of $422,790, according to the release.

The suspected smuggler and narcotics were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation. The vehicle was seized by the U.S. Border Patrol.

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