Half a Ton of Pot Found in Truck

U.S. Border Patrol agents seized nearly half a ton of marijuana Saturday night when they intercepted a pickup truck driving without lights about 5 miles east of the Tecate border crossing, near Campo. Agents estimated the haul has a street value of $1.9 million.

Border Patrol agents were watching the area about 8 p.m. when they saw the pickup drive across the border without its headlights on. When officers tried to stop the pickup on California 94, the driver made an abrupt U-turn and tried to flee back to Mexico but crashed into a farm fence.

Two occupants tried to escape on foot with Border Patrol agents following. One of the fleeing men pulled a handgun from his waistband and fired twice at one of the pursuing officers. The agent was uninjured but both smugglers escaped across the border.

Inside the abandoned truck, the agents found 26 bundles of marijuana, each weighing about 16 kilograms, packed into the truck bed and behind the driver’s seat.

On Tuesday, agents made another stop in the same area east of Tecate and seized 1,000 pounds of cocaine concealed in hidden compartments in the bed of a truck and behind the driver’s seat.

Later the same day, agents in Otay Mesa discovered more than 1,800 pounds of marijuana in a pickup truck that was abandoned when it struck a dirt berm while fleeing back toward the border.