Border Pot Busts Include Suspect From Anaheim
Border Patrol agents seized more than half a ton of marijuana worth more than $1 million this week along the San Diego County border region, authorities said Friday.
In the latest and largest seizure, an Anaheim resident was arrested Thursday at the Interstate 5 border checkpoint near San Clemente. The driver agreed to a search of the 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis and officers discovered 630 pounds of marijuana in the trunk. The driver’s name was not released.
On Wednesday, agents at the same checkpoint arrested a Mexican citizen with a legal border crossing card after they found 83 pounds of marijuana in a hidden compartment inside the gas tank of his 1983 Chevrolet truck.
Later that day, a Border Patrol dog led agents to 47 pounds of marijuana hidden in a wheel well of a 1991 Dodge Shadow at the Interstate 8 checkpoint near Pine Valley. Agents arrested a Mexican citizen who was driving the car.
At a Highway 94 checkpoint Tuesday, another Border Patrol dog led agents to 90 pounds of marijuana in a hidden compartment in the rear of a 1986 Nissan Stanza. Two men, a U.S. citizen and a permanent resident from Mexico, were arrested.
Agents also found eight duffel bags containing a total of 445 pounds of marijuana after they followed footprints near the border Wednesday and Saturday. In both cases, the suspected smugglers escaped across the border to Mexico.
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