Toolboxes hid 400 pounds of meth, heroin and cocaine bound for US, Border Patrol says
A man’s attempt to smuggle more than 400 pounds of illicit drugs into the U.S. from Mexico landed him in federal custody, U.S. officials say.
Toolboxes hid dozens of packages of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin in the truck bed of a driver trying to cross at the Tecate Port of Entry in California on April 1, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
The 56-year-old driver was in line waiting to enter the U.S. when agents decided to search his 2006 Toyota Tundra.
“During the inspection, CBP officers discovered and extracted a total of 94 packages of narcotics from underneath and inside multiple toolboxes on the bed of the vehicle,” according to an April 15 news release.
In all, officials said the drugs had a combined weight of 415 pounds with an estimated street value of $2.5 million.
The driver, a Mexican national who agents said had “a valid legal permanent resident document,” was arrested and turned over to immigration authorities, according to Border Patrol officials. He was later booked into the Metropolitan Corrections Center in San Diego.
Officers have also made several bizarre drug busts in recent months. In March, a big rig driver hauling a load of tomatoes was arrested in Las Vegas after investigators learned the produce was being used to conceal 230 pounds of cocaine, McClatchy News reported.
A crockpot brimming with carne asada was also used to hide thousands of fentanyl pills uncovered by Border Patrol agents at the Port of Nogales in Arizona, according to McClatchy News.
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Toolboxes hid 400 pounds of meth, heroin and cocaine bound for US, Border Patrol says."