In two separate events, Border Patrol agents on Interstate 15 stopped and arrested two women in SUVs accused of smuggling more than $750,000 in narcotics, the agency said Thursday.
The first incident occurred at approximately 10:30 a.m. Wednesday when Murrieta-based agents patrolling I-15 stopped a 2010 Ford Expedition driven by a 41-year-old U.S. citizen. After a drug-detection dog sniffed the vehicle, agents searched it and found 51.36 pounds of cocaine hidden inside a speaker box. The narcotics have an estimated street value of $667,680.
The second incident occurred 15 minutes later at 10:45 a.m. Agents stopped a 59-year-old U.S. citizen in a 2005 Ford Expedition. The driver gave agents permission to search her vehicle and they discovered four bundles of narcotics hidden inside an ice chest.
The bundles contained 1.10 pounds of methamphetamine, nearly one pound of heroin, and 5.09 pounds of cocaine. The drugs have an estimated street value of $11,000 for the methamphetamine, $10,080 for the heroin, and $66,170 for the cocaine.
Both women were arrested and turned over to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Special Investigations Bureau and face drug smuggling charges. The two SUVs were seized by the Border Patrol.
