18 Pounds Of Meth Hidden In Car's Undercarriage In San Diego County

CAMPO, CA — Authorities arrested a man driving with meth concealed inside his vehicle Monday in eastern San Diego County.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent patrolling Interstate 8 near Campo stopped the driver around 3 p.m. at the I-8 westbound checkpoint.

During the vehicle stop, a Border Patrol K-9 team searched the exterior of the grey Hyundai Sonata and alerted authorities to the possible presence of drugs in the vehicle. Agents discovered 20 packages of meth hidden in the undercarriage of the car. The meth weighed 18.87 pounds and had an estimated street value of $42,000, according to the Border Patrol.

Agents arrested the driver, a U.S. citizen whose name was not released. He was turned over to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. The Border Patrol seized the vehicle and turned over the packages of meth to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The San Diego Sector has seized more than 4,657 pounds of meth since Oct. 1, 2021, according to the Border Patrol.

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