California IN BRIEF : SAN DIEGO : Border Patrol Makes 2nd Big Cocaine Bust

For the second time in less than a week, Border Patrol agents from the Interstate 15 checkpoint near Temecula have made a major cocaine bust, officials said. Agents patrolling near the checkpoint became suspicious of a pickup truck they saw on Pala Road in Riverside County because it was bouncing and swaying as though it were carrying a heavy load, Border Patrol spokesman Steven Kean said. Their search uncovered 660 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $10 million inside the truck. The cocaine was in the form of bricks wrapped as Christmas presents, Kean said. “It will be no White Christmas for this narcotic smuggler,” he said. The driver, a 23-year-old Mexican national with a legal residence in San Diego, was jailed for investigation of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute. His identity was not immediately available. That seizure was almost identical to one Tuesday by Border Patrol agents who began following a car on Pala Road just inside San Diego County as it apparently tried to bypass the freeway checkpoint, which is just across the county line. Agents found 656 pounds of cocaine in the trunk of that car, which was stopped when the driver pulled onto I-15 near California 79.