250 Pounds Of Fentanyl Pills Seized In San Diego County

CAMPO, CA — Authorities caught a motorist trying to smuggle hundreds of pounds of fentanyl Monday in eastern San Diego County.

U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped the driver at about 3 a.m. on Interstate 8 near Golden Acorn Casino in Campo, an unincorporated community in the southeastern area of the county.

During the traffic stop, a Border Patrol K-9 alerted authorities to the possible presence of drugs in the man's black GMC truck. Agents searched the truck and found bundles hidden in the vehicle's gas tank and spare tire. The bundles contained about 250 pounds of pills that tested positive for fentanyl, with an estimated street value of nearly $3.7 million.

Agents arrested the driver, a U.S. citizen whose name was not released. The Border Patrol seized the vehicle and the pills were turned over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

"Our agents prevented these dangerous narcotics from reaching our communities," said Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke. "I am proud to say that our Border Patrol agents here in San Diego Sector are responsible for over 50 percent of all the fentanyl seized by the U.S. Border Patrol this fiscal year."