Over $1M worth of methamphetamine found in shipment of charcoal: CBP

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Officers found over a million dollars worth of drugs hidden within a shipment of charcoal last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said in a release Monday.

The release said, on Thursday around 8:30 p.m., officers at the CBP Otay Mesa cargo facility stopped a 46-year-old man driving a commercial tractor-trailer. They said the tractor-trailer was carrying a shipment containing charcoal.

Over $5 million worth of drugs seized in first half of April: CBP

The driver, tractor-trailer and shipment were referred for a secondary examination, where a full scan of the vehicle was conducted.

After irregularities were found, a CBP K-9 team alerted officers to the presence of drugs inside the tractor-trailer, the release said.

Officers discovered a total of 119 packages containing what was later confirmed to be methamphetamine, weighing more than 780 pounds.

  • Officers found over a million dollars worth of drugs hidden within a shipment of charcoal on Thursday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a release Monday.
    Officers found over a million dollars worth of drugs hidden within a shipment of charcoal on Thursday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a release Monday.
  • Officers found over a million dollars worth of drugs hidden within a shipment of charcoal on Thursday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a release Monday.
    Officers found over a million dollars worth of drugs hidden within a shipment of charcoal on Thursday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a release Monday.
  • Officers found over a million dollars worth of drugs hidden within a shipment of charcoal on Thursday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a release Monday.
    Officers found over a million dollars worth of drugs hidden within a shipment of charcoal on Thursday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a release Monday.

The tractor, trailer and methamphetamine were seized by CBP officers, according to the release. The seizures were part of Operation Apollo, a multi-agency partnership targeting the smuggling of drugs into the U.S.

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