Border Patrol finds $98,000 worth of meth hidden in a car

Drugs were stashed in the vehicle's quarter panels

PINE VALLY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - U.S. Border Patrol agents say a U.S. citizen is behind bars, and more than $98,000 worth of drugs are off the street after a bust at a checkpoint along Interstate 8.

Agents say it happened just after one Monday afternoon at the Pine Valley checkpoint.

They say a drug-sniffing dog alerted them to a problem with a Dodge Journey. Agents waved it into secondary inspection. That's where they say the found nearly 44-pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the car's rear quarter panels. The drugs have a street value of $98,505.

Agents arrested the car's driver, a 22-year-old woman. The Drug Enforcement Agency later took her, and the drugs, into custody.

Since October 1, 2019, San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents have seized more than 1,956 pounds of meth. The drugs have an estimated street value of more than $4,000,000. So far this year, meth seizures are up by more than 7%.