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A car carrying 174 pounds of cocaine was seized Monday by Border Patrol agents at the San Onofre checkpoint, and its driver was arrested, authorities reported.
The drug was found in a false compartment in the trunk floor and behind rear door panels of the car, a 1984 white Mercury Marquis. Jesus Manuel Luna Olmos, 21, a resident temporary alien from Mexico, was arrested.
The car was traveling north on Interstate 5 when Border Patrol agents stopped it about 10:30 a.m. It was sent to secondary inspection because it fit the profile of a possible smuggling vehicle.
Agents found the false compartment and, with the help of Tucker, a dog trained to smell drugs, discovered the cocaine.
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