Woman suspected of smuggling $71K worth of meth arrested

Border Patrol agents arrested a woman suspected of smuggling methamphetamine inside her vehicle’s gas tank at the Highway 86 checkpoint Saturday evening.

At around 9 p.m., a woman, who was traveling with her underage son, approached the checkpoint in a 2005 burgundy Hyundai Sonata.

A canine team alerted to the gas cap of the vehicle where agents discovered several sealed packages concealed inside the vehicle’s gas tank.

The packages tested positive for the characteristics of methamphetamine with a total weight of 26.97 pounds. The drugs’ estimated street value was of $71,470.

The woman, a U.S. citizen, was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the vehicle and narcotics.

The child was turned over to Imperial County Social Services.

“This displays the level the smuggling organizations will go in order to further their criminal enterprise,” said Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David S. Kim. “Thanks to our agents this child was taken out of a potentially dangerous situation.”