Holtville man arrested for attempting to smuggle more than 100 pounds of meth

A 38-year-old Holtville man was arrested Tuesday morning after allegedly attempting to smuggle more than 100 pounds of methamphetamine inside his vehicle through the Calexico East Port of Entry.

Antonio Castañeda-Valle was taken into custody at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the East POE by Homeland Security Investigations agents and booked into county jail on suspicion of unlawful importation of a controlled substance, stated county Sheriff’s Office arrest records.

Castañeda was held on no bond for the alleged felony offense, arrest records stated.

According to a federal court complaint, Castañeda applied for entry into the US while driving his maroon 2004 Ford F-150 through the East POE’s vehicle lanes at approximately 9 a.m. Tuesday.

A Customs and Border Protection officer at the inspection lanes observed the bolts on the gas tank of Castañeda’s vehicle had been tampered with, and referred Castañeda to secondary inspection.

A CBP officer screened the vehicle with a Z-Portal and observed anomalies in the gas tank of the vehicle. A Human Narcotics Detection Dog was then requested and alerted to the gas tank of the vehicle.

The gas tank of the vehicle was removed, which revealed 47 packages. A random package was field tested and it yielded positive for the properties of meth. The combined weight of the packages was approximately 102.7 pounds, stated the court complaint.