$5.55 Million in Drugs Seized at Border Patrol Checkpoint

Niland, Calif. – Today, U.S. Border Patrol agents from the El Centro Sector disrupted a drug smuggling attempt worth more than $5.55 million at the Highway 111 Checkpoint near Niland.

The illegal narcotics were discovered at around 2 a.m., after a Border Patrol canine team performing a search alerted to a 2004 Ford pickup truck occupied by a 36-year-old United States citizen. Agents searching the truck discovered 69 packages of methamphetamine and cocaine hidden inside one of the engine compartments. The cocaine weighed approximately 103 pounds and has an estimated street value of nearly $3.3 million. The methamphetamine discovered weighed approximately 70 pounds and has an estimated street value of more than $2.2 million.

The suspect was placed under arrest and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the vehicle and narcotics.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.