Mexico Police Halt Truck, Intercept a Ton of Cocaine

A team of Mexican federal police intercepted a truck traveling between Tecate and Tijuana Saturday and seized nearly a ton of cocaine destined for the United States. Twelve people were arrested.

“This is one of the largest (drug) seizures in the history of Mexico,” federal police Commandant Jorge Gonzales Ortiz said in Tijuana Sunday. Gonzales was jubilant over the success of the operation. “It’s a triumph for us fighting a war against drugs.”

Gonzales said police seized 1,914 pounds (870 kilos) of cocaine on the truck. A Mexican news agency reported that the cocaine had a value of $191 million on the illegal drug market.

Gonzales said Saturday’s arrests along the road a few miles south of the border were the result of a three-month investigation by both Mexican police and Interpol.

A team of 15 investigators worked on the case, he said, and some of the officers had followed the cocaine shipment from Costa Rica to Mexico.

All of those arrested have been sent to Mexico City where they will face drug smuggling charges, the commandant said. Those seized included Mexicans, Colombians and Nicaraguans, he said.

Jaime Torres Espinoza, a Mexican attorney general’s official in Baja California, said Mexican authorities have been watching the border closely for the last six months, looking for cocaine shipments.