The Border Patrol said Friday its agents at the Interstate 5 checkpoint found $750,000 worth of heroin and cocaine inside a discarded spare tire and arrested two men.
Agents spotted a 2004 Mazda 3 on the shoulder of the road just south of the checkpoint on Thursday morning. The driver opened his trunk, was occupied for several minutes, then shut the trunk and drove to the checkpoint.
The driver and his male passenger were questioned at the checkpoint, and a trained dog indicated drugs were present, but a search found nothing. Then agents drove to where the car had been stopped and found a spare tire with 30 pounds of heroin and 23 pounds of cocaine inside.
The men, both 22 years old and U.S. citizens, and the narcotics were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The vehicle was seized by the Border Patrol.
In the last fiscal year, the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector intercepted 9,204 ounces of heroin, which was an increase of 45 percent from the prior year, and more than 1,697 pounds of cocaine, which was an increase of 105 percent.
