Border Patrol agents find 65 pounds of cocaine hidden in pickup’s seats

More than 65 pounds of cocaine were found hidden inside the seats of a pickup when Border Patrol agents pulled over the driver of the truck near Temecula late last week.

Officials said a man in a 2011 Dodge Ram was heading north on Interstate 15 near the Temecula checkpoint around 8:50 a.m. Friday when agents noticed he was driving erratically and pulled him over.

After a drug-sniffing police dog reacted to the vehicle, agents searched the truck. They found two metal boxes embedded in seats where foam had been removed — and discovered 25 plastic-wrapped packages holding nearly 65.4 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $653,600.

The driver, a 27-year-old Mexican national with a valid visa, was arrested, and the drugs were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The vehicle was seized by the Border Patrol.

Since October, the San Diego sector has seized about 169 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $1.7 million, officials said.