SAN DIEGO—U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers on Monday discovered 1,365 pounds of marijuana in a shipment of fish at the Otay Mesa cargo facility and officers at the San Ysidro port of entry found 117 pounds of methamphetamine in the tires of a vehicle.
On August 19th, at about 6:30 a.m., a CBP officer encountered a 30-year-old male when he entered the Otay Mesa port driving a 2007 International bobtail truck with a shipment of frozen fish. The officers referred the truck to the dock for a more in-depth examination.
CBP officers ran the truck through the port's imaging system and detected anomalies within the containers of fish. Officers removed the top layers of fish from each container and discovered a total of 173 packages of marijuana hidden underneath.
A total of 1,365 pounds of marijuana was offloaded, valued at an estimated $614,000.
The driver, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
CBP seized the narcotics and conveyance.
Also on Monday, at about 5 a.m., at the San Ysidro port of entry, a canine team was screening vehicles waiting in line for inspection when the detector dog alerted to a 1998 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck. Officers escorted the driver and vehicle for an intensive investigation.
Officers ran the truck through the port's imaging system and found anomalies with the truck's tires. They searched all four tires and found metal frames in each tire where they subsequently extracted 24 wrapped packages of methamphetamine, valued at $2.3 million.
The driver, a 22-year-old male U.S. citizen, was arrested and transported to the Metropolitan Correctional Center. CBP seized the vehicle and narcotics.