iSALTON CITY, Calif. – El Centro Sector Border Patrol Agents assigned to the Highway 86 Checkpoint seized drugs along with an assortment of weapons and ammunition from a vehicle on Thursday afternoon.
The incident occurred at approximately 5:10 p.m., when a man driving a silver Honda CRV with a woman passenger approached the checkpoint. A Border Patrol K-9 detection team alerted to the vehicle in the primary inspection lane. Agents directed the vehicle to enter the secondary inspection area for further investigation.
While in secondary inspection, agents discovered a small plastic bag near the passenger side of the vehicle to which the woman passenger claimed ownership. The substance inside the plastic bag tested positive for the characteristics of fentanyl. The total weight of the fentanyl discovered was approximately 1.36 grams with an estimated value of $136.
A comprehensive search of the vehicle revealed a small cache of weapons consisting of two rifles, three semi-automatic handguns, one revolver, and an assortment of ammunition. Several other types of weapons were found in the vehicle including a hatchet, a collapsible steel baton, a stun gun, and a wooden bat. Agents inspected the firearms and discovered four of the weapons had no serial numbers and one weapon was reported stolen out of Huntington Beach. The weapons and ammunition were unclaimed by the driver and passenger of the vehicle.
The driver, a 41-year-old United States citizen man and passenger, a 42-year-old United States citizen woman were placed under arrest and were escorted to the detention area for further processing. During processing, records checks revealed that the woman had two active warrants out of Orange County for taking forbidden articles into a prison, and for a traffic hit and run with property damage.
Both subjects, the vehicle, weapons, ammunition and fentanyl were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with securing the borders of the United States while enforcing hundreds of laws and facilitating lawful trade and travel.
