Border Patrol seizes cocaine, pot at I-15 checkpoint

UNION-TRIBUNE
3:53 p.m. February 17, 2009

SAN DIEGO – A strong smell of odor freshener and a nervous driver led Border Patrol agents to search two vehicles that had been stopped on Interstate 15 in Temecula, resulting in seizures of cocaine and marijuana.

Details of the seizures were released Tuesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

Packages of cocaine weighing nearly 80 pounds were found in a Jeep Liberty that had been stopped by a Border Patrol agent about 10:30 a.m. Friday on I-15 near the southern exit to state Route 79.

The agent said the SUV had a strong odor of air freshener and cologne. During a search, agents found 33 vacuum-sealed bundles of cocaine in a compartment added to the vehicle's fuel tank. The 26-year-old driver was arrested.

It was the second major seizure of cocaine along the same stretch of I-15 in a week, following a Tuesday seizure of 72 pounds of the drug, CBP officials said.

About 10 a.m. Saturday, a Border Patrol agent stopped the driver of a Chevrolet Suburban on I-15 north of the Murrieta Hot Springs Road exit.
The driver's nervous behavior and inconsistent answers to questions led to vehicle search by a Border Patrol canine.

Agents found 35 bundles of marijuana; 19 were in a duffel bag inside the Suburban and 16 were hidden in the vehicle's panels.

The 25-year-old driver was arrested.

Breaking News Team: (619) 293-1010; breaking@uniontrib.

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