WASHINGTON: U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the San Luis port of entry arrested a U.S. citizen on Thursday who was attempting to smuggle $156,000 in methamphetamine into the country.
According to a CBP news release, a Ford sedan driven by a 47-year-old male was sent to the secondary inspection area after a narcotics detection canine alerted to the vehicle. While searching the vehicle, officers found and removed more than 52 pounds of methamphetamine that was hidden in the vehicle’s rocker panels, the release said.
A rocker panel is a panel that forms part of the bodywork of the vehicle below the level of the passenger door. In addition to customs officers seizing the drugs and vehicle, the man was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.