A checkpoint inspection by U.S. Border Patrol agents led to the arrest of a 26-year-old man who was allegedly smuggling 39 bundles of methamphetamine inside his car, the agency reported Wednesday.
The arrest took place around 5 p.m. Tuesday at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 5 near San Clemente after agents flagged the U.S. citizen driving a 2003 Volkswagen Golf, according to Mary Beth Caston of the USBP.
A border patrol K-9 sniffed out the vehicle and alerted agents to the meth hidden inside the car’s rear quarter panels, Caston continued.
The bundles weighed 46.19 pounds and were valued at $161,665, Caston said.
The man was arrested for narcotics smuggling and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the illicit drugs; the vehicle was seized by the USBP, Caston added.
The USBP did not release the suspect’s name.
–Staff
