Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020:
Trucker caught in second largest border meth bust
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa commercial border crossing near San Diego seized more than 3,100 pounds of methamphetamine and other illegal narcotics as part of what CBP says is the second largest meth bust along the southwest border in the history of the agency.
On Oct. 9, a tractor-trailer arrived at the facility with a shipment manifested as medical supplies. It was referred for a more intensive inspection, where officers found anomalies with the rear of the trailer.
Officers offloaded the shipment and found 1,816 packages co-mingled with the medical supplies that primarily contained clear plastic pipette tips, spray bottles of surface decontaminate and calibrated pipette tools used for sampling and dispensing liquid.
CBP officers later extracted approximately 3,014 pounds of meth, 64 pounds of heroin, 29 pounds of fentanyl powder and almost 37 pounds of fentanyl pills, worth an estimated $7.2 million.
“This massive seizure is testament of what law enforcement agencies can do when we combine forces – prevent over $7 million worth of deadly drugs from entering our country, thus saving countless lives from addiction and overdose deaths,” said Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John W. Callery.
The truck driver, a 47-year-old Mexican citizen, was arrested and turned over to the custody of the joint investigative team from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and the DEA. CBP says he will face criminal charges.
