Border agents nab US citizen allegedly attempting to smuggle $600,000 of cocaine
A U.S. citizen was nabbed Saturday trying to smuggle about 38 pounds of cocaine through a checkpoint in Borrego Springs, California, according to an agency statement.
Agents stopped the 47-year-old driver of a white 2011 Chevrolet Traverse and the drugs were discovered inside a rear floorboard by a Border Patrol K-9 detection team, according to the agency. The contents tested positive for cocaine, with an estimated street value of more than $600,000.
“No matter where smugglers hide these dangerous drugs, the powerful nose of K9 Amon will sniff it out,” one border agent posted on Twitter.
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The Associated Press reported back in May that there has been an increase in the number of American citizens apprehended while trying to smuggle illegal drugs into the U.S. since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
US citizens were apprehended nearly seven times more often than Mexican citizens between October 2020 and March 31 for trying to smuggle drugs in vehicles, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows. In the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years, Americans were caught roughly twice as often as Mexicans.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
