Otay Mesa, Calif. — U.S. Customs and
Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa Cargo facility on Friday discovered
4,576 pounds of marijuana in a shipment manifested as medical supplies, in a
false wall compartment of a tractor trailer.
At about 1 p.m., CBP officers
encountered a 26-year-old male citizen of Mexico, driving a 1997 Freightliner
pulling a trailer as the man waited in line to enter the U.S. from Mexico, with
cargo manifested as medical supplies. A CBP officer and his canine were
screening trucks when the detector dog alerted to the front wall of the
trailer. The driver and truck were pulled aside for a more in-depth
investigation.
A CBP officer searched the conveyance,
drilled into the wooden front wall and extracted marijuana. CBP officers
subsequently extracted a total of 293 cellophane wrapped packages of marijuana,
with a street value of $6.9 million. The trailer contained a false front wall
concealing a non-factory compartment where the marijuana packages were hidden.
CBP officers seized the truck and
marijuana. The driver was arrested and transported to the Metropolitan
Correctional Center.
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 official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and
terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.
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