Routine Border Patrol Stop Nets $10 Million in Cocaine

What authorities believe is one of the largest cocaine seizures in San Diego County was made Tuesday by U.S. Border Patrol agents who stopped a car on Pala Road near the Temecula checkpoint.

The agents found 656 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated illegal value of $10 million, in the trunk of a car during a routine stop at 3:30 p.m. The cocaine was in individually wrapped 1-kilo bundles, Border Patrol spokesman Steven Kean said Wednesday.

The driver of the car was a 25-year-old Mexican national who is a legal resident in Long Beach. He was being held on suspicion of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute. The Border Patrol said his name will not be released until his arraignment.

Kean said Tuesday’s seizure is one of the largest cocaine hauls made by the Border Patrol in San Diego County.

The haul is just shy of the total amount of cocaine netted by border patrol agents from both the San Onofre and Temecula checkpoints during all of fiscal 1991, which ended Sept. 30, when 681 pounds was confiscated. Since Nov. 1, Border Patrol agents have seized more than 1 1/2 tons of cocaine.

In another drug seizure Tuesday, Border Patrol agents found 423 pounds of marijuana, with an estimated street value of $846,000, in a utility truck that illegally crossed the border about 4 p.m. in Boulevard, east of the Tecate port of entry.

Agents followed the truck for about a mile before the driver stopped. They found the marijuana in storage compartments.

A 29-year-old Mexican was taken into custody on suspicion of importing a controlled substance with intent to distribute.