A Mexican couple, with their three children in tow, were arrested at the Border Patrol checkpoint in Pine Valley on suspicion of smuggling more than $22,000 worth of methamphetamine in their car, according to federal agents.
The couple’s 2010 Toyota Venza was stopped at the Interstate 8 checkpoint, and the 32-year-old driver passed his permanent resident card to agents, according to a Border Patrol statement. However, the passenger’s immigration documents that had been cancelled.
A drug-sniffing dog alerted agents as they questioned the woman, and a subsequent search of the car turned up 2.21 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in a tote bag in the center console, Border Patrol officials said.
The man and woman were arrested on possession of a controlled substance and handed off to the Drug Enforcement Administration, authorities said. The three kids, all under 10 years old, were turned over to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services protective services officer.
The car was seized by Border Patrol agents, according to the agency statement, following the 6 p.m. Thursday arrest of the couple.
The Pine Valley checkpoint is east of Laguna Junction on Interstate 8 adjacent to old Highway 80.
The Border Patrol monitors 6,000 miles of land along the US. and Canadian borders and 2,000 miles of water in Florida and near Puerto Rico. The agency employs more than 20,000 agents. In 2012, according to the agency, nearly 6,000 pounds of cocaine were seized and more than 2 million pounds of marijuana were seized in the Southwest.
– City News Service
