Border Patrol Makes 2 Big Drug Seizures
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Border Patrol agents seized more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine and 1,800 pounds of marijuana in two separate incidents Tuesday, officials said.
The combined street value of the drugs was estimated at more than $18 million, a Border Patrol spokesman said.
The first seizure took place about 1 p.m., after agents stopped a pickup truck crossing the border illegally east of the Tecate Port of Entry. Bundles of cocaine were packed into eight customized compartments in the truck, the spokesman said.
The driver, a 32-year-old El Paso man, was arrested on suspicion of importing a controlled substance.
The second seizure took place west of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry about 6 p.m. Another pickup crossed into the United States illegally and, once spotted by Border Patrol agents, made a sudden U-turn and became stuck in a dirt berm. Agents found 200 bundles of marijuana in the bed of the pickup, the spokesman said.
The driver and a passenger fled on foot to Mexico.
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