20 Pounds of Pot Found in Surfboards; 2 Held

Two San Diego men were arraigned Friday on charges of possessing marijuana and trying to smuggle 20 pounds of the drug--hidden inside surfboards--into the United States from Mexico on Thursday, officials said.

Michael L. Clark, 25, and Robert P. DiVentura, 31, were arrested after they tried several times Thursday to cross the Mexican border with the surfboards without going through U.S. Customs, federal Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Bryan Cook said.

Two men were seen walking into Tijuana from Border State Field Park, on the west side of the border, about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. They were not carrying anything at the time, Cook said.

They returned an hour later carrying surfboards.

“They were stopped and told by Border Patrol agents that they had to take their boards through U.S. Customs at the port of entry,” Cook said.

The pair, still carrying the surfboards, returned to Mexico instead.

Just before noon, a Border Patrol agent noticed the same men trying to enter the United States driving a rented station wagon. There were three surfboards in the car, Cook said. The agent contacted other Border Patrol agents, who recognized the pair as the two they had seen earlier. Clark and DiVentura were stopped and told to follow agents to the port of entry. However, as they approached the point, they failed to make the left turn into customs, Cook said, trying instead to re-enter Mexico. Mexican authorities were notified and refused them entry.

Customs dogs alerted officials to the marijuana concealed inside two of three surfboards, Cook said. The men were detained until DEA officers could make the arrest. Cook said the street value of the marijuana confiscated is more than $10,000.