U.S. Border Patrol agents seized 47.51 pounds of cocaine from a vehicle on the 5 Freeway near Camp Pendleton on Thursday, Feb. 27, the agency announced on Monday, March 3. The agents are assigned to the San Clemente station, which is in San Diego County, south of the city of San Clemente.
Agents stopped the sedan, which had been travelling northbound on the 5, around 5:45 p.m. Information on what prompted the initial stop was not available. Agents interviewed the man driving and requested a K-9 unit, which alerted positively to the trunk, where agents searched and discovered white trash bags filled with cellophane-wrapped cocaine.
The drugs seized have an estimated street value of over $810,000, according to the Border Patrol. The vehicle, driver and passenger, also a man, and drugs were taken to a nearby station.
The driver and passenger now face narcotics trafficking charges, Border Patrol has seized the vehicle and the Drug Enforcement Agency has custody of the drugs and is investigating the seizure further.
It is likely that the drugs originated in Mexico, according to U.S. Border Patrol Special Operations Supervisor Eric Lavergne.
This bust is one in a string of recent arrests involving San Diego Sector agents. On Feb. 18 and Feb. 19, 143 pounds of cocaine was seized and 18 pounds of fentanyl was seized in busts on the 5 Freeway’s San Clemente Border Patrol Checkpoint and the 15 Freeway’s Temecula Border Patrol Checkpoint. Together, these two busts resulted in the seizure of narcotics worth over $1.2 million, the Border Patrol said.
San Diego Sector agents seized 2,862 pounds of cocaine and 782 pounds of fentanyl during fiscal year 2024; and over 900 pounds of cocaine, along with over 150 pounds of fentanyl, in the first few months of fiscal year 2025, according to the agency.
In recent years, agents have seen a “resurgence” of cocaine and fentanyl has continued to be seen, according to Lavergne.
“As the agents are able to get back on their mission to protect the border, our agents are able to get out there and find these seizures, so of course we’re seeing a lot more cocaine,” Lavergne said. “Right now we’re not seeing almost any heroin, we’re probably around 20 pounds for the fiscal year so far, but on the other hand, we’re already at almost 1,000 pounds, if not more, of cocaine.”
The increase in narcotics busts can be partially attributed to lower numbers of illegal border crossings, which makes agents available to do different work.
“We’ve seen a dramatic downturn in the number of crossings at the border. With that being said, our agents are back on the border patrolling. We don’t have as many agents in processing and dealing with the humanitarian mission we were dealing with recently,” Lavergne said. “So the agents are able to get back out there, making interdictions and hopefully put a dent in these criminal organizations’ efforts.”
“We keep getting these busts and I think it is important for everyone to know that the Border Patrol is out there 24/7 and we are working to keep these drugs and dangerous poisons out of everyone’s communities,” Lavergne said.
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