Border agents seize cocaine in car at Pine Valley freeway checkpoint
By Pauline Repard

Friday, October 8, 2010 at 8:14 p.m.

PINE VALLEY — A drug-sniffing dog helped Border Patrol agents find nearly 30 pounds of cocaine worth about $300,000 hidden in a car that agents stopped at an Interstate 8 checkpoint Friday, authorities said.

The driver, a 27-year-old Mexican citizen, was directed to an inspection area about 10:15 a.m. when agents thought he seemed nervous and gave inconsistent statements, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said.

A Border Patrol dog reacted to the 2006 Chevrolet Impala and agents found a secret compartment under the back window. When they opened it, authorities said, they found 12 bundles of cocaine weighing a total of 29.6 pounds.

The driver was arrested and was turned over, with the drugs, to a multi-agency drug task force.

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