Dog Days: K-9 border patrols detect 138 pounds of narcotics near California-Mexico border

Two undocumented individuals and a U.S. citizen were arrested by El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents for allegedly trying to sneak 138 Pounds of methamphetamine further into the U.S. after making it past the California-Mexico border, according to reports from the U.S. Custom Border Protection agency.

The first arrest occurred Friday at about 11 a.m., when a 2018 Nissan Rouge attempted to cross California’s Highway 86 immigration checkpoint. A federal officer checking vehicles asked the driver to pull over for further inspection, and a Border Patrol K-9 detection team was brought over to sniff out the situation.

Agents and K-9 officers inspected the inside and outside of the vehicle and detected something. After further inspection by the canines, agents found several vacuumed sealed packages inside the Nissan’s gas tank, underneath the center console, rear quarter panels, and three of the four doors, CBP reported.

The materials inside the sealed packages reportedly tested positive for methamphetamine.

“The driver and passenger of the vehicle were in possession of 108.5 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $379, 855. They were placed under arrest and held at the checkpoint to be processed accordingly,” the CBP said.

The second arrest took place Friday evening at about 5:10 p.m. The CBP’s El Centro Sector’s Intelligence Unit (SIU) were conducting “anti-smuggling operations” on California’s Interstate 8.

SIU agents stopped a white 2016 Nissan Versa, near California’s State Route 2 exit. A Bureau of Land Management K-9 detection team were brought to the vehicle for further inspection.

Once the canines were given access to the car interior, they helped the officers locate “four clear plastic bags containing a crystal-like substance located inside a cardboard box inside the trunk.”

CBP said the substance tested positive for methamphetamine, and weighed about 29.9 pounds “with an estimated street value of $53,820.”

The driver of the vehicle was a 22-year-old U.S. citizen, who was arrested and taken to the Calexico Border Patrol station. All parties arrested were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration to face federal charges, the CBP said.