US Border Patrol agents seized nearly $10 million worth of cocaine during two vehicle inspections just three minutes apart at a Southern California checkpoint, authorities said.
Agents discovered more than 1,435 pounds of suspected cocaine valued at $9.8 million during inspections at the San Clemente Border Patrol checkpoint last month, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
On Oct. 25, agents assigned to the San Diego Sector referred the two vehicles for additional inspection after observing “suspicious behavior,” including one driver attempting to reverse out of the checkpoint.
A Border Patrol canine alerted agents to both vehicles, leading to the discovery of 550 vacuum-sealed packages concealed inside black garbage bags.
Field tests yielded presumptive positive results for cocaine, CBP said.
“With this seizure, we are heading for a record year in narcotics interdictions here at the San Clemente checkpoint,” San Clemente Station Patrol Agent in Charge J.D. Scott said in a statement.
“A few years ago, our agents were deployed to the immediate border and processed hundreds of illegal aliens,” Scott continued.
“With illegal border entries in San Diego at all-time lows, we now have the agents needed to keep our checkpoint open longer and to maintain a strong Border Patrol presence along our I-5 corridor.”
Both drivers were arrested, and the Drug Enforcement Administration took custody of the suspects and suspected narcotics pending federal prosecution.
The seizures come amid the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on drug cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations and human smuggling and drug trafficking networks.
In a separate case in May, authorities in the Southern District of California uncovered more than a ton of cocaine worth an estimated $45 million linked to an alleged cross-border drug tunnel.
