SALTON CITY, Calif. – El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Highway 86 checkpoint, arrested a man suspected of smuggling methamphetamine inside his vehicle on Monday morning.
The incident occurred at approximately 3:10 a.m., when a 31-year-old man approached the checkpoint in a gray 2006 Mercury Sable. Before the driver reached the primary inspection area, a Border Patrol canine detection team alerted to the driver’s side of the vehicle.
Agents referred the man to secondary inspection for a closer inspection of his vehicle.
Upon further inspection, Border Patrol agents found 27 packages stuffed inside the vehicle’s rocker panels and under the back seat. Agents tested the contents of the packages and indicated a positive for characteristics of methamphetamine.
The total weight of the methamphetamine was 40.90 pounds with an estimated street value of $134,970.
The man, a United States citizen, the vehicle and narcotics were turned-over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation.
In fiscal year 2018, El Centro Sector has seized more than 418.78 pounds of methamphetamine.