RC car drive train used to smuggle meth
The RC car drive train used to smuggle meth. Photo courtesy CBP

A 16-year-old boy was arrested in the Otay Mesa area on suspicion of using a radio-controlled car to transport nearly 56 pounds of methamphetamine across the border from Mexico, the U.S. Border Patrol reported Tuesday.

Around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, agents spotted a person walking with two duffel bags along a secondary border wall about a mile west of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, Border Patrol officials said.

Agents responded to the area and found a 16-year-old boy hiding in thick brush along with a remote-controlled car and two large duffel bags.

Upon searching the two duffel bags, they found 50 bundles of methamphetamine weighing just under 56 pounds. Officials estimated the street value of the drugs to be worth more than $106,000.

The boy, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and taken to a nearby station.

Border Patrol agents stopped a similar smuggling attempt just over two years ago.

In August 2017, agents arrested a 25-year-old man about two miles west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry on suspicion of flying just over 13 pounds of methamphetamine across the border using a remote-controlled drone.

— City News Service