The U.S. Border Patrol reports made an enormous Fentanyl bust after a vehicle was stopped as it proceeded on a highway in San Clemente, in south Orange County.
San Diego Border Patrol Agents and local law enforcement partners partners arrested three suspects and seized 232 lbs. of Fentanyl worth over $3 million.
This amount of Fentanyl had the potential to kill over 50 million people, according to Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz.
While this was a great drug bust it is concerning that the drugs had already entered the U.S. It is not known if that was due to a missed vehicle at a Border Patrol port of entry, or perhaps by being backpacked into the U.S. by drug mules, then transferred to a vehicle.
On Monday this week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers also intercepted the largest seizure in the history of the port with almost $1 million worth of fentanyl and methamphetamine at the Andrade Port of Entry. Border Patrol officers encountered a 37-year-old woman, who is a United States citizen, driving a 2016 pickup truck, applying for admission into the United States from Mexico at the Andrade Port of Entry.
The Border Patrol officers utilized the port’s imaging system to screen the vehicle and observed irregularities in the gas tank. A CBP K-9 team screened the vehicle and received a positive alert to the presence of narcotics.
After a thorough inspection, CBP officers discovered a total of 76 packages concealed within the gas tank. It was determined that 46 packages were fentanyl pills weighing nearly 54 pounds and an estimated street value of $746,590 and 30 packages of methamphetamine weighing slightly more than 32 pounds and an estimated street value of $211,990.
