Border Patrol discovers narcotics in car’s rocker panel
El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents from the Indio Station assigned to the Highway 86 checkpoint arrested a man suspected of smuggling drugs in the rocker panels of his vehicle on Sunday.
The arrest occurred Sunday afternoon, when a 26-year-old man approached the Border Patrol checkpoint in a 2011 gray Chevrolet Malibu sedan.
As the vehicle approached the primary inspection booth, a Border Patrol K9 team alerted to the vehicle. The primary agent referred the vehicle for a secondary inspection.
During the secondary inspection, the K9 again alerted to the rocker panels of the Chevrolet. A search of the vehicle revealed 20 plastic wrapped bundles which tested positive for the characteristics of methamphetamines.
The narcotics had a combined weight of 25.02 pounds with an estimated street value of $80,064.
The man, the vehicle and the narcotics were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation.
In fiscal year 2017, El Centro Sector has seized more than 84.03 pounds of methamphetamine.
