SAN DIEGO – U.S. Border Patrol agents prevented two drug smuggling attempts since last week resulting in the seizure of marijuana and heroin worth more than $420,000, border officials announced Tuesday.

The first smuggling attempt occurred on Thursday at approximately 4 p.m., when agents assigned to the San Clemente checkpoint encountered a 19-year-old man United States citizen driving a tan 2001 Chevrolet Suburban, according to U.S. Border Patrol spokeswoman Mary Beth Caston.

Agents became suspicious of the man’s nervous demeanor and referred him for a secondary inspection, said Caston.  During the inspection, a canine team alerted agents to a vehicle where they discovered 47 bundles of marijuana behind the driver and passenger front seats and inside the trunk, she said.

The marijuana weighed 237 pounds and had an estimated street value of $355,740.

On Monday morning, agents nabbed a second suspect, a 21-year-old U.S. citizen who was driving a gray 2001 Ford Escort, at the Murrieta checkpoint, Caston said.  He was accused of smuggling five bundles of heroin worth an estimated $66,000 inside a compartment disguised to resemble a valve cover, Caston said.

Both suspected smugglers were taken into custody and turned over to Drug Enforcement Administration officials

A version of this column originally appeared in www.fox5sandiego.com.

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Readers Comments (3)

1. Vince Rossi says:

   July 18, 2012 at 2:17 pm

   End Prohibition and we can discuss Border Security.

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2. Lloyd Schlabach says:

   July 18, 2012 at 2:31 pm

   Open borders does things like that. Plus the scum that comes with it.

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3. Chuck Hajek says:

   July 18, 2012 at 6:01 pm

   are these two US citizens now considered honorary mesicanz?????

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