Crime & Safety

Illegal Aliens Arrested for Allegedly Smuggling Cocaine

The suspects were caught at the Border Patrol checkpoint just south of Temecula.

Two illegal aliens faced charges of smuggling more than $300,000 worth of cocaine today.

The suspects, two men aged 26 and 37 who the border patrol declined to name, were arrested today around 10 a.m. on Interstate 15 near Rainbow Valley Road just south of Temecula, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Agents noticed a 2000 Mitsubishi Galant going north on Interstate 15 and thought it looked “suspicious,” said Agent Scott Simon in an emailed announcement.

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Agents stopped the car and, while questioning them, realized they were in the country illegally, Simon said.

A drug-sniffing dog searched the car and alerted agents, so they scoured it and found 12 cellophane-wrapped bundles under the backseat. The bundles contained 29.65 pounds of cocaine worth about $296,500 on the street, according to Simon.

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Agents confiscated the drugs and car, arrested the suspects and turned them over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Agents asked anybody with information on this case or other suspicious activity to call 619-498-9900.


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