Cocaine and marijuana confiscated at border
The Border Patrol confiscated over $500,000 worth of cocaine stashed away inside a spare tire in an SUV and took a 24-year-old driver into custody Tuesday at a checkpoint located in East County.
The driver was traveling in a black Jeep Cherokee and was not allowed to pass at the checkpoint when a dog sniffed the car and signaled to authorities that there were hidden drugs in the car, reported Border Patrol agents.
Agents looked through the car and discovered 20 packages containing cocaine and weighing around 50 pounds stored in the spare tire. The drugs are thought to be worth about $509,300, officials stated.
The man, who was taken into custody, remains unidentified and is a U.S. citizen, officials reported.
In a report from last October until now, the agency has seized over 1,574 pounds of cocaine and 25,500 pounds of marijuana.
