Border Patrol agents stopped a vehicle this week that contained nearly 17 pounds of fentanyl, authorities said, and took the driver into custody.
It’s the latest drug seizure in the agency’s San Diego Sector, where agents have confiscated 184 pounds of narcotics since Dec. 4.
Agents from the San Clemente Station on Tuesday conducted a vehicle stop on northbound Interstate 5, the Border Patrol said in a news release. A search under the front seats uncovered seven packages of fentanyl weighing 16.75 pounds, which had an estimated street value of $64,600.
In three other cases this month out of the San Clemente Station, agents made I-5 stops and seized more fentanyl –12.24 pounds, with an estimated street value of $47,175; 25.79 pounds, valued at $99,450 and 23.48 pounds, valued at $90,525.
In the second incident, they also found 31 pounds of heroin.
In an additional stop, in Murrieta, agents searched a vehicle on Interstate 15 and discovered 75 pounds of drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl.
In each case, authorities took the driver into custody. Three are U.S. citizens, one is a permanent legal resident and another, a Mexican citizen.
“The significant quantity of fentanyl and other dangerous narcotics that our agents have seized in the past two weeks represents millions of lethal doses,” said San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Justin De La Torre. “Whether it is shutting down human traffickers or preventing deadly drugs from entering our country, border security saves lives.”
