$100,000 of Marijuana Found Near Border
More than $100,000 worth of marijuana was seized by U.S. Border Patrol officers in two separate incidents near the Mexican border over the weekend.
The first incident took place while Border Patrol agents were watching a group of suspected illegal aliens Saturday morning on Otay Mesa, one mile east of the San Ysidro border crossing, said Border Patrol spokesman Michael Gregg. The agents approached the group to question them about their citizenship, but they scattered and fled back into Mexico, Gregg said. Duffle bags containing 135.2 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $81,120, were found nearby, Gregg said.
One man, an undocumented alien, was arrested, Gregg said, and the suspect and drugs were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
On Sunday morning a citizen reported two suspicious people carrying large plastic bags and walking northbound from the border about six miles west of Campo. Border Patrol agents couldn’t find the individuals, but they did find the bags, which contained 43 pounds of marijuana valued at about $26,000.
Footprints heading back toward the border were also discovered; the agents theorized that the suspects dropped the drugs and fled when the saw the officers coming, Gregg said.
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