A 28-year-old driver was arrested last week after border agents in Southern California found more than $10 million worth of narcotics hidden in a shipment of jalapeño paste, authorities said.
Border officials at the Otay Mesa Cargo Facility found a driver hauling barrels of jalapeño paste in a commercial tractor-trailer just after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said.
The driver, who officials said was a valid cross-border card holder, was referred to a secondary area for further inspection along with his rig and shipment, the agency said.
A CBP K-9 unit inspected the shipment and alerted officers to what border officials described in a broadcast on X as a “hot search.”
A total of 349 suspicious packages were found in jalapeño paste bins, the agency said.
K-9 alerted officers to inspect the shipment of jalapeño paste more closely. US Customs and Border Protection
Tests on the package revealed it contained 3,161.43 pounds of methamphetamine and 522.5 pounds of cocaine.
The estimated street value of the drugs is $10.4 million, according to the agency.
Border officers seized the drugs and the tractor trailer while the driver was handed over to the Homeland Security Investigation for further processing.
A total of 349 suspicious packages were found in jalapeño paste bins. US Customs and Border Protection The 28-year-old driver was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for further processing. US Customs and Border Protection
No further details about the driver were immediately available.
“Our K-9 team is an invaluable component of our anti-narcotics operations, providing reliable and unparalleled mobile detection capabilities,” said Port of Otay Mesa Director Rosa Hernandez, adding that the agency will continue to protect the community and ” stifling the growth of transnational criminal organizations, one seizure after another.”
The agency’s San Diego Field Office seized a total of more than 14,000 pounds of narcotics in November.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
