November 6, 09

NEWS / Calexico Port Officers Make 2 Cocaine Busts

Calexico, Calif. — In two days, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Calexico ports of entry seized more than a half million dollars worth of cocaine in two separate and unrelated seizures.


On Thursday, November 5, at about 4:30 a.m., at the Calexico downtown port, CBP officers arrested a 34-year-old male U.S. citizen who attempted to smuggle 56 pounds of cocaine into the country.


The CBP officer targeted the man and his vehicle, a white 2001 Honda Odyssey van, for a more intensive examination. Officers examined the van and used a detector dog to find 22 wrapped packages of cocaine concealed inside a non-factory compartment located in the floor area near the front seats. The street value of the narcotic is estimated at approximately $504,000.

CBP officers turned over the driver, a resident of El Centro, Calif., to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for further investigation on the alleged narcotic smuggling attempt.

Another cocaine seizure occurred a day earlier at about 8 a.m. at the Calexico East port of entry when a CBP officer referred a 19-year-old male Mexican citizen driving a green 2000 Pontiac Grand Am for further inspection.


CBP officers conducted an intensive inspection and discovered ten wrapped packages of cocaine concealed inside the rocker panels of the vehicle. Each rocker panel contained five wrapped packages. The narcotics weighed about 26 pounds with a street value of approximately $234,000.


CBP officers arrested the driver, a resident of Culiacan, Mexico, for the alleged narcotic smuggling attempt and transferred him over to ICE agents for further investigation.


In both incidents, CBP seized the narcotics and vehicle.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/11062009_4.xml