Customs agents seize more than ton of meth in medical supply shipment

SAN DIEGO — Customs agents seized nearly 2,500 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in a shipment of medical supplies, authorities said Tuesday.

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According to a news release, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility in San Diego seized the drugs on Saturday.

The shipment, loaded onto a tractor-trailer, was listed as various medical supplies on the cargo’s manifest when it entered the facility at about 9:45 a.m. PDT.

CBP officers targeted the truck and conducted an X-ray screening, according to the news release. After agents found anomalies within the shipment, a K-9 was used and the canine was alerted to one of the pallets of medical products.

Officers unloaded the shipment and found 120 packages containing methamphetamine intermingled with the medical supplies, the CBP release said.

Agents found approximately 2,425 pounds of methamphetamine, which has a street value estimated at $5.5 million.

The driver, a 29-year-old man from Mexico, was arrested and faces federal charges, the news release said.

”Most of what CBP officers see every day is legitimate travelers and legitimate cargo that needs to speed its way into the U.S. as a critical part of our economy,” Anne Maricich, acting CBP director of field operations in San Diego, said in a statement. “But CBP officers know that we must remain vigilant; transnational criminal organizations will attempt any avenue they can think of to try and smuggle their illicit drugs into the U.S.”

Cox Media Group