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Meth Smuggling Attempts

 

Last updated 9/17/2020 at 10:02am



Border Patrol agents at the El Centro Sector and Calexico Station seized more than 33 pounds of methamphetamine in three separate incidents over the Labor Day weekend.

The first incident occurred at around 4:45 p.m. on Sept. 5, when a man, 20-years-old, driving a white Infinity crossover approached the Highway 86 checkpoint. A Border Patrol canine alerted agents to the vehicle, and it was directed to the secondary checkpoint for further investigation.

While in secondary inspection, agents discovered 31 wrapped packages inside the rocker panels and under the floor carpet of the vehicle. The substances in the packages tested positive for characteristics of methamphetamine.

The total weight of the meth was 32.54 pounds, with an estimated street value of $73,215. The man, identified as a Untied States citizen, the vehicle, and the narcotics were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The second incident occurred at 6 a.m. the following day, Sept. 6. An agent assigned to the Calexico Border Patrol station encountered two kettlebell-shaped packages near Dool Avenue and First Street in Downtown Calexico while on patrol.

After further inspection, the packages tested positive for characteristics of meth, and weighed 1.16 pounds, with an estimated street value of $2,610. The narcotics were turned over to the DEA.

The third incident occurred the same night, when a Calexico Station Remote Video Surveillance System (RVSS) operator saw a subject running north near First and Heffernan Street in Downtown Calexico, near where the other incident from that morning occurred.

An agent near the area responded to the call, but the subject was nowhere to be found when they arrived at the scene. A kettlebell-shaped package was recovered.

At the station, the package contained characteristics of meth that weighed 1.15 pounds, with an estimated street value of $2,587.50. The narcotics were turned over to the DEA.