Nearly $150,000 worth of marijuana was seized this week at checkpoints in the Northend of the Imperial Valley.
U.S. Border Patrol agents from the El Centro sector arrested two suspects allegedly attempting to smuggle about 188 pounds of marijuana through the area in two separate instances, according to a press release from the El Centro Sector Office. The first incident occurred after Border Patrol agents assigned to the Indio station conducted a search of a tractor trailer at the Highway 111 checkpoint north of Niland.
During the search, agents found two sealed containers holding about 155 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $123,000, according to the press release. The driver, a 55-year-old man, was arrested and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration, along with the vehicle and drugs.
At a nearby checkpoint on High way 86 near Westmorland, Border Patrol agents found 17 brick-like bundles of marijuana in a hidden compartment inside an Isuzu sport utility vehicle, according to the press release. The marijuana weighed about 33 pounds with an estimated street value of $26,560.
The driver, a 53-year-old male, was arrested and turned over to the Imperial County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Task Force.
Staff Writer Elizabeth Varin can be reached at evarin@ivpressonline.com or 760-337-3441.
U.S. Border Patrol agents from the El Centro sector arrested two suspects allegedly attempting to smuggle about 188 pounds of marijuana through the area in two separate instances, according to a press release from the El Centro Sector Office. The first incident occurred after Border Patrol agents assigned to the Indio station conducted a search of a tractor trailer at the Highway 111 checkpoint north of Niland.
During the search, agents found two sealed containers holding about 155 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $123,000, according to the press release. The driver, a 55-year-old man, was arrested and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration, along with the vehicle and drugs.
At a nearby checkpoint on High way 86 near Westmorland, Border Patrol agents found 17 brick-like bundles of marijuana in a hidden compartment inside an Isuzu sport utility vehicle, according to the press release. The marijuana weighed about 33 pounds with an estimated street value of $26,560.
The driver, a 53-year-old male, was arrested and turned over to the Imperial County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Task Force.
Staff Writer Elizabeth Varin can be reached at evarin@ivpressonline.com or 760-337-3441.
