Smuggler hides meth in muffler

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a man who tried to smuggle more than 13 pounds of methamphetamine past the Highway 86 checkpoint.

Agents say the 26-year-old man drove up the checkpoint in a black 2004 Honda Wednesday evening. The man presented a partially torn birth certificate and claimed to be a U.S. citizen. However, the agent sent him to secondary inspection where a K-9 officer alerted the car.

Agents were able to find anomalies in the car’s exhaust system and they found 17 bundles of meth inside the muffler, according to a press release issued on Thursday.

Agents say the drugs could have sold for more than $42,000 in the street.

The man, the car and drugs were handed over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation.