C.B.P. News Release

Border Patrol Takes Drugs off Major Freeways
(Tuesday, June 02, 2009)

San Diego - Yesterday, U.S. Border Patrol agents used non-intrusive technology and canines to make two significant seizures of drugs valued at more than $320,000.

The first seizure of more than $65,280 worth of marijuana took place in the morning at the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 8 in Pine Valley. With the help of non-intrusive technology, agents discovered 108 pounds of marijuana concealed in the tires of a Jeep Cherokee. The male driver of the SUV, a 32-year-old Mexican national, was arrested and turned over to a multi-agency, anti-drug task force.

In the evening, agents seized 25 pounds of cocaine during a vehicle stop on northbound Interstate 15 in Temecula. Agents stopped the Ford F-150 pickup truck on the interstate, near Rancho California Road. A Border Patrol canine team alerted on the vehicle, prompting agents to conduct a further search. The narcotics were found in a modified secret compartment built in the floor of the vehicle. The cocaine has an estimated street value of $258,000. Agents arrested the male driver of the pickup truck, 34-year-old Mexican national, and later turned him over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

So far in the 2009 fiscal year, Border Patrol agents have seized more than 17,500 pounds of marijuana and 1,050 pounds of cocaine in the San Diego sector.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Contacts For This News Release
San Diego Sector
CBP Public Affairs
Phone: (619) 216-4182 Ext: 114 or
(619) 652-9966 Ext: 192 (Spanish)

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/new ... 2009_6.xml