Salton City, Calif. – Saturday, El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Indio Station arrested three suspected female drug smugglers and seized more than 10 pounds of methamphetamine in two separate incidents.
The first incident, occurred at approximately 11:30 a.m., when Border Patrol agents encountered a 22-year-old female, driving a grey Mitsubishi Eclipse as she approached the Highway 86 checkpoint.
A Border Patrol canine detection team alerted to the front passenger side under carriage of the vehicle, and then referred the driver to the secondary inspection area for further investigation. Agents discovered two packages of methamphetamine concealed inside the front seats of the vehicle. The methamphetamine had a combined weight of 8.79 pounds with an estimated street value of more than $56,000.
Two packages of methamphetamine were concealed inside the front seats of a vehicle.
The U.S. citizen woman, the vehicle and methamphetamine were turned over to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Task Force (HIDTA) for further investigation.
The second incident occurred at approximately 8:00 p.m., When Border Patrol agents encountered a 25-year-old woman driver of a black Volkswagen and her female passenger as they approached the Highway 86 checkpoint.
A Border Patrol canine detection team alerted to the passenger’s side of the vehicle and was referred to the secondary inspection area. Agents were given consent from the occupants to search the vehicle. A search of the vehicle was negative for narcotics. Agents proceeded to question the 35-year-old passenger who admitted to carrying narcotics underneath her clothing.
The methamphetamine had a weight of 1.65 pounds with an estimated street value of $10,725.
Both women were U.S. citizens. The women, vehicle, and methamphetamine were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation.