Body of man found on path at park identified Border Patrol seizes $520K worth of heroin, fentanyl

CITY HEIGHTS

The body of a man found on a bike path in Teralta Park in City Heights over the weekend was identified as 31-year-old Virgil Heard, police said Wednesday.

Heard was discovered just after 3 a.m. Saturday at the park on Orange Avenue. The San Diego resident had suffered some kind of trauma to his upper body, police said.

Homicide detectives were called to investigate. Little is known about Heard's death, but investigators believe Heard had been walking in the park near Central and Polk avenues before he collapsed, police said.

No suspect description was immediately available.

Anyone with information about the incident was asked to call detectives at (619) 531-2293 or Crime

Stoppers anonymously at (888) 580-8477.

lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com

TEMECULA

Border Patrol agents stopped a car driving near a checkpoint in Temecula on Tuesday and discovered narcotics worth more than $520,000 concealed in the vehicle's dashboard, authorities said.

The seizure was made around 7 a.m. after agents spotted a 2012 Ford Focus heading north on Interstate 15 that they considered suspicious, Border Patrol spokesperson Tekae Michael said in a statement.

They searched the car and found 15 packages hidden in a compartment in the dashboard behind the radio.

Seven packages containing more than 20 pounds of heroin with a street value of about $280,500 and eight packages that held about 20 pounds of fentanyl worth about $240,000 were seized, Michael said.

The man driving the car, a Mexican citizen, was arrested. He and the seized narcotics were turned over to the Riverside County sheriff's office and the Border Patrol seized the vehicle.

So far this year, the San Diego sector of the Border Patrol has seized more than 68 pounds of heroin and 313 pounds of fentanyl.