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  4. Border Patrol Arrests Man Attempting to Smuggle Meth and Heroin

Border Patrol Arrests Man Attempting to Smuggle Meth and Heroin

Release Date
Thu, 06/20/2019

SALTON CITY, Calif. El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents working at the Highway 86 immigration checkpoint arrested a man suspected of smuggling methamphetamine and heroin Wednesday morning.

Smugglers stuff car tires with hard narcotics.
Smugglers stuff a car's tires
with more than $400K of hard 
narcotics.

The incident occurred at approximately 7:40 a.m., when a 21-year-old man drove a white 2006 Nissan Xterra to the checkpoint.  A Border Patrol canine detection team alerted to the vehicle.  Agents sent the vehicle to secondary inspection for further investigation.

While in secondary inspection, Border Patrol agents discovered 14 packages hidden inside all four tires of the vehicle.  Agents determined that the substances in the packages were consistent with the characteristics of methamphetamine and heroin.

The total weight of the 10-methamphetamine packages discovered was 78 pounds with an estimated value of $179,400.  

The total weight of the four heroin packages was 10.5 pounds with an estimated value of $241,500.

The man, a United States citizen, the vehicle, and the narcotics were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021