Agents assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector in California arrested a subject accused of smuggling 133 pounds of fentanyl during a vehicle stop.
On Thursday, May 23, at approximately 12:00 p.m., Border Patrol Agents noticed a suspicious vehicle while patrolling the border along Interstate 8 east of Calexico, California.
Astute agents first noticed the vehicle swerving in and out of traffic in an erratic manner and after completing records checks initiated a vehicle stop.
Read: CBP Agents In Texas Arrest 10 Members of Infamous Venezuelan Prison Gang At Border
During questioning, the driver provided inconsistent answers, and a Border Patrol Canine (K-9) team, trained to detect concealed persons and narcotics, soon arrived to assist.
Within minutes, the K-9 zeroed in on the vehicle's floorboards.
A cursory search of the area resulted in the discovery of an aftermarket compartment underneath the floorboards, a void filled with cellophane-wrapped packages consistent with narcotics smuggling.
Inside the packages were thousands of blue pills which tested positive for fentanyl. The total weight of the fentanyl was 133 pounds.
The driver, a U.S. citizen, was arrested, and his vehicle and narcotics were turned over to the Imperial County Narcotics Task Force for further investigation.
Read: Dismantling The Sinaloa Cartel’s Deadly Grip: The Downfall Of Florida’s Fentanyl Kingpins
“133 pounds of ready-to-consume Fentanyl is significant with the potential to kill, maim, and otherwise affect countless lives across America” said El Centro Sector Chief Gregory Bovino. “Calexico Border Patrol agents are fiercely protective of their portion of the border, and this Fentanyl smuggler, as well as all brands of smugglers, face that harsh reality time and again. I am proud of agents here in the premier sector, this being another example of why,” added Bovino.
This seizure is the result of Operation Apollo, a holistic counter-fentanyl effort that began on October 26, 2023, in southern California and expanded to Arizona on April 10, 2024.
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