WESTMORLAND, CALIF.—Today, El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Indio station arrested a suspected drug smuggler with more than nine pounds of cocaine worth more than $300,000.
The incident occurred around 11 a.m., at the Highway 86 Checkpoint near Westmorland. A Border Patrol Canine Team alerted to a white Freightliner truck. Agents then utilized a large-scale imaging system and discovered a non-factory installed compartment in the truck. Concealed within the compartment were two packages of cocaine. During a pat-down of the smuggler, two additional packages of cocaine were discovered duct taped to the smuggler's body.
The suspect, a 34-year-old Mexican national, was placed under arrest and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the truck and narcotics.