Thread: CRIME: Federal agents find $1 MILLION in drugs in two cars

CRIME: Federal agents find $1M in drugs in two cars

13 hours ago • By TERI FIGUEROA tfigueroa@nctimes.com

Apparent engine problems in a 13-year-old car led federal agents in North County to find 18 pounds of methamphetamine in the back end of the vehicle, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman said Friday.

The find was one of two big smuggling busts in San Diego County on Thursday morning, as agents found drugs with a street value worth more than $1 million, spokesman Ralph DeSio said.

In the North County find, agents followed a 1999 white Toyota Solara when it exited northbound Interstate 5 about six miles south of the checkpoint at San Onofre about 10 a.m., DeSio said.

The car's engine was emitting white smoke, and the driver, a 26-year-old U.S citizen, agreed to allow agents to inspect the car, he said. A drug-sniffing dog led agents to the back end of the car, where agents found 15 bundles of meth, with a street value of about $364,000, DeSio said.

In East County about an hour earlier, agents found about 30 pounds of meth and about 11 pounds of cocaine in a sport utility vehicle near Interstate 8 and Kitchen Creek Road, DeSio said.

Call staff writer Teri Figueroa at 760-740-5442. Follow me on Twitter @TeriFigueroaNCT.

CRIME: Federal agents find $1M in drugs in two cars