Nearly $600,000 in marijuana found in buses at border

Written b Pauline Repard
6:06 p.m., Oct. 25, 2012

SAN YSIDRO — Border officers found nearly 400 pounds of marijuana hidden inside two commercial buses entering the United States from Mexico Wednesday, authorities said Thursday.

About 7:30 a.m., a United States Customs and Border Protection officer’s dog reacted to the undercarriage of a bus at the San Ysidro port of entry, the agency said.

Officers found nine packages of marijuana, weighing 56 pounds and valued at $84,000, wedged under the bus. The male driver, a 38-year-old Mexican citizen, was taken to San Diego County Jail.

Half an hour later, a dog alerted to a second bus waiting in the inspection line. Officers pulled 95 packages of marijuana weighing 343 pounds out of the air conditioning unit, Customs officials said. The drugs are worth an estimated $514,000. The 43-year-old driver, also a Mexican citizen, was booked into federal jail in San Diego.

Nearly $600,000 in marijuana found in buses at border | UTSanDiego.com