Cocaine Load in Car Snared at Checkpoint

The U.S. Border Patrol seized 220 pounds of cocaine and arrested a San Diego man after an agent became suspicious of a car “riding low in the back” as it passed through the San Onofre immigration checkpoint Tuesday morning.

It was the third largest ever seizure of cocaine in San Diego County and second largest at the border checkpoint, according to authorities. The seized cocaine had an estimated street value of $20 million to $25 million, U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Gene Smithburg said.

Smithburg said that about 9:20 a.m., a 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit passing through the checkpoint on northbound Interstate 5 came to the attention of the agent working there, partly because the back of the vehicle seemed to be lower to the ground than usual for such cars.

“Several factors, combined with the knowledge that this type of vehicle is frequently used to transport illegal aliens, led the agent to ask other (checkpoint) ‘chase cars’ to pursue it,” Smithburg said.

Car Frequently Used

He said that alien smugglers frequently use the Volkswagen Rabbit because of the amount of space in its rear storage area.

“The car was pulled over about half of a mile north of the checkpoint,” he said. “Upon further inspection agents found several square factory-packed bundles, which based on their experience they believed to be narcotics. The suspect was then transported back to the station for questioning.”

Andres Olguin Ruiz, 53, of the 3700 block of Florence Street in San Diego, was arrested and booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center on suspicion of possession of narcotics and possession of narcotics with intent to sell. He is expected to be arraigned by a U.S. magistrate today or Thursday, Smithburg said.

The largest seizure of cocaine in the county occurred in September, when 1,285 pounds of the drug with an estimated street value of $57 million was seized by U.S. Border Patrol agents who had pursued a pickup truck that had illegally crossed the border in a remote area near Jacumba.

In August of last year, 477 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $43.4 million was seized at the San Onofre checkpoint after a pickup truck was pulled over for a routine immigration inspection.