By Jim Shilander
Border Patrol agents stopped two separate alleged drug smuggling attempts in the last two days at the Interstate 5 checkpoint outside San Clemente.
At approximately 10 a.m., agents stopped a 37-year-old Mexican national driving a 2000 Nissan Sentra who was referred for secondary inspection after agents became suspicious, a news release stated. A K-9 team performed a brief inspection, and was alerted to the car’s trunk, where 29 bundles of cocaine and a single bundle of heroin were allegedly found in a speaker box.
The cocaine weighed 84.66 pounds and had an estimated street value of $931,260. The heroin weighed 2.32 pounds and had an estimated street value of $27,840.
Tuesday evening, agents stopped another 37-year-old Mexican national driving a 2009 Honda Accord, who was driving his vehicle in a parking lot near Oceanside. After a cursory inspection, the K-9 inspection team was alerted to check out the dashboard. Agents then allegedly discovered a bundle of methamphetamine after a search of the airbag compartment. The bundle weighed 1.21 pounds, and carried a street value of $24,200
The release stated that both men were taken into custody and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Border Patrol seized both vehicles.
