U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa Cargo Facility have discovered more than $10 million worth of hard drugs submerged in yet another unexpected place.
At approximately 10:36 a.m. Wednesday, a 28-year-old male driving a commercial tractor-trailer approached the facility with a shipment listed on manifests as jalapeño paste.
The driver, a valid border crossing card holder, was referred for further examination by CBP officers along with the vehicle and shipment.
In the secondary inspection area, a CBP K-9 unit screened the shipment and alerted officers to examine the trailer more closely.
Upon further examination, officers discovered and extracted a total of 349 suspicious packages from vats of jalapeño paste. The contents of the packages were tested and identified as methamphetamine weighing 3,161 pounds and cocaine weighing 522 pounds.
“Our K-9 teams are an invaluable component of our counter-narcotics operations, providing a reliable and unequalled mobile detection capability,” said Rosa Hernandez, Otay Mesa’s port director.
CBP officers seized the narcotics and tractor-trailer while the driver was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for further processing. The estimated street value of the narcotics is $10.43 million.