Border Patrol seizes $38K in drugs

El Centro Sector Border Patrol reported two significant drug seizures within hours of each other Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection release.

The first incident occurred about 10:45 p.m., when an agent assigned to the Calexico Station was driving in downtown Calexico and observed a small oval, wrapped package laying on the ground near First Street.

The agent left his vehicle and kettlebell-shaped package wrapped in electrical tape. The agent seized and transported package back to the Calexico Border Patrol Station for further processing.

Contents of the package tested positive for methamphetamine. Agents were not able to identify any subjects involved in the incident.

The total weight of the meth was 1.078 pounds, with an estimated value of $2,425.

The second incident occurred Wednesday about 12:55 a.m., when the agency said a 34-year-old male driver and a 28-year-old female passenger traveling in a grey Lexus sedan approached the Highway 86 checkpoint. Border Patrol agents referred the vehicle to secondary for further investigation.

A K-9 team reportedly alerted to the vehicle as it waited in secondary. That led agents to the alleged discovery of three vacuum-sealed packages hidden beneath a child’s car seat.

Agents tested the packages with a narcotics testing kit. The white substance inside two of the packages tested positive for the characteristics of fentanyl, the CBP release said. The third package contained blue pills, which reportedly tested positive for the characteristics of oxycodone.

The total weight of the fentanyl was 2.27 pounds with an estimated value of $25,750.

The total pill count for the oxycodone was 982 with an estimated value of $9,820.

The El Centro Sector turned over the driver and passenger, both U.S. citizens; the vehicle, and the narcotics to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.