Agents with the El Centro, California sector of the U.S. Border Patrol recently seized 450 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the fule tanks of a tractor-trailer.
The street value of the drugs was estimated to be $540,000, accoring to the Border Patrol. The 31-year-old Mexican national driving the truck was arrested.
A statement from the Border Patrol sais on July 8, at about 2 p.m., agents stopped an orange Freightliner traveling northbound on Highway 86 near Coachella. A Border Patrol K-9 team trained to detect concealed people and illegal drugs alerted to the presence of drugs in the vehicle. After the semitruck and driver were transported to the Indio Border Patrol Station, a more thorough inspection was conducted. Agents tested the liquid in the fuel tanks and confirmed the presence of methamphetamine.
“I tend to think large shipments of methamphetamine such as this pose a risk to Americans on several levels, including increases in crime and decreases in health and safety,” said El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino. “Agents in the Premier Sector will continue to take the fight to smugglers of all types with one goal in mind: winning on behalf of the taxpayer.”
The Border Patrol's staement said the seizure is the result of Operation Apollo, what the agency called "a holistic counter-fentanyl effort that began on Oct. 26, 2023, in southern California, and expanded to Arizona on April 10, 2024."
According to the agency, Operation Apollo focuses on intelligence collection and partnerships, and utilizes local CBP field assets augmented by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to boost resources, increase collaboration, and target the smuggling of fentanyl into the United States.
