Border Patrol agents in southeastern California are seeing an uptick in the number of drug seizures they are making inside the United States, after the narcotics have been illegally smuggled into the country, a senior agent told the Washington Examiner.
Most of the drugs being seized are being stopped at one of the region’s three immigration checkpoints on local highways. The checkpoints are permanent fixtures meant to stop the smuggling of people and contraband that made it over the border.
Federal agents from the El Centro sector, or region, are seeing a spike in the number of drug smuggling incidents, as well as the amount of dope they are finding in seizures since Aug. 1.
“It’s something that we certainly have brought to the attention of our stakeholders, headquarters and lawmakers in the area,” Joshua Devack, assistant chief patrol agent for Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector, told the Washington Examiner in a phone call late Monday.
On Aug. 1, agents arrested two U.S. citizens near Calexico, California, suspected of accepting $475,000 worth of cocaine and methamphetamine from an ultralight aircraft other personnel saw drop the load on the American side of the border.
That same day, a 32-year-old Mexican man was arrested at the Highway 86 checkpoint after agents found $2.5 million worth of cocaine, meth, and heroin in the back of his truck.
Agents at the same checkpoint found $96,000 worth of meth in the gas tank of a 19-year-old U.S. man on Aug. 5. That same day, checkpoint personnel detected $43,000 worth of fentanyl and heroin on another 19-year-old U.S. man who tried to take a taxi cab through the stop.
On Aug. 7, a 41-year-old U.S. man was arrested after Highway 86 checkpoint agents found $158,000 worth of black tar heroin and fentanyl in a false car battery.
The next day, agents at the highway stop arrested a 24-year-old U.S. man because they found $63,000 worth of meth hidden inside his vehicle door. The majority of the arrests were announced by the El Centro Sector locally, but not published on Customs and Border Protection’s main website.
CBP spokesman Ralph DeSio shared with the Washington Examiner another recent incident took place Aug. 16, when agents from Salton City, California, discovered $637,000 worth of fentanyl and liquid meth during a standard stop at its Highway 86 checkpoint Aug. 16.
An American woman driving a white Ford F-150 had attempted to pass through the vehicle inspection booth when a Border Patrol K9 that is trained to smell for narcotics alerted his handler to the truck.
CBP personnel told the driver she would have to undergo a second inspection with the K9. The dog alerted its owner to the truck a second time. Agents then inserted a gas tank scope to see if the driver had hidden something contraband inside. They found 196 pounds of liquid meth and 1,000 fentanyl pills.
“Liquid meth and fentanyl are two of the most dangerous illegal narcotics being smuggled into the United States,” acting El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Ryan Scudder said in a statement. “Fortunately, our agents were able to successfully seize these drugs and keep them out of our communities.”
Devack said the sector is paying extra attention to this trend and considering why they are seizing more drugs. He said smugglers could be sending more on the highways because it is so hot right now and they do not think K9s and agents will be manning the outdoor checkpoints.
The woman and majority of the suspects were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration as they investigate any possible connection between the incidents.
