Drugs found in cars at I-8 checkpoint

By Pauline Repard, Associate Staff Writer - Public Safety
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 4:03 p.m.

EAST COUNTY — More than 20 pounds of cocaine and five pounds of methamphetamine, worth an estimated $328,000, were found hidden in two cars stopped at the Border Patrol checkpoint in Pine Valley in the past few days, authorities said Tuesday.

Agents thought the driver of a 1998 Ford Mustang was unusually nervous when they stopped him at the Interstate 8 checkpoint about 9:15 p.m. Sunday, so they checked the car with a drug-sniffing dog, agency spokesman Scott Simon said.

Five packages of meth weighing a total of 5.3 pounds and valued at $107,000 allegedly were found in the trunk, and the 19-year-old driver, a United States citizen, was arrested.

On Monday, agents became suspicious of the driver and passenger in a 2000 Plymouth Neon during an inspection about 1:15 p.m. Agents found eight bundles of cocaine inside the back bumper, Simon said.

He said the cocaine weighed a total of 22 pounds and was worth about $220,500 on the streets. The female driver, 20, a United States citizen, and her male passenger, 22, a Mexican citizen, were arrested.

pauline.repard@uniontrib.com • (619) 293-1865

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