$1.2 million in cocaine found in minivan

By Debbi Baker, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 11:51 a.m.

SAN DIEGO — Federal officials arrested a man and a woman Wednesday accused of trying to smuggle $1.2 million worth of cocaine into the country.

The couple, who are both 30 and from Mexico, were in a Nissan Quest minivan that had stopped at the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 8 near Pine Valley about 9:45 a.m., Border Patrol Agent Mark Endicott said.

As agents were interviewing them they appeared nervous, so agents moved the van to a secondary inspection area and searched the vehicle with a dog, Endicott said.

The search turned up 49 packages of cocaine that were concealed inside the door panels. They weighed a little more that 125 pounds.

The man and woman were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Their names were not released

Debbi Baker: (619) 293-1710; debbi.baker@uniontrib.com

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... n-minivan/