TECATE, Calif. (KGTV) — A driver is being detained after hundreds of pounds worth of cocaine were discovered in shipments of decorative stone inside a tractor-trailer attempting to cross the US-Mexico border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Tecate Port of Entry had to break open the stones on Wednesday, January 11, to find 57 cellophane wrapped packages of cocaine hidden inside.
At about 10:23 p.m., a 36-year-old driver arrived with a shipment manifested as decorative stone, according to CBP. During the inspection for entry to the U.S, the CBP officer escorted the driver for a more intensive examination.
During the exam, a CBP officer noticed discrepancies with the shipment, and a CBP canine team screened the shipment, which resulted in positive indications for narcotics.
"The packages of cocaine were concealed within a plaster-like material designed to appear like stones," the CBP statement said.
CBP officers discovered approximately 256 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated street value of about $4.1 million.
“It is evident from the immense efforts to conceal these narcotics that our officers are effective in the jobs that they do,” said Jennifer De La O, CBP Director of Field Operations in San Diego. “The men and women of CBP are relentlessly working together to stop the negative impacts that narcotics have in the communities.”
CBP officers seized the tractor-trailer, shipment, and narcotics. The driver, a Mexican citizen, over to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
