Border Patrol Seizes 130 Pounds of Fentanyl During Freeway Stops in Temecula, California

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

In both busts, the drugs were hidden inside the vehicles, a Chevy Tahoe's gas tank and Jeep Liberty's tires.

Just before the Memorial Day holiday got underway, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who serve out of Murrieta's Newton Azrak station intercepted two fentanyl hauls on Interstate-15 in Southwest Riverside County.

While arrests were made and about 130 pounds of the illicit narcotic were seized during the busts that came over a 48-hour period, the incidents were notable due to the thousands of potential poisonings that could have occurred if the drug made it to the streets.

Nearly 90 pounds of fentanyl was seized from inside the gas tank of a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe.

The first bust occurred around 10:50 a.m. on May 24 after border patrol agents stopped a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe that was heading north on Interstate 15 into Temecula, just north of the Border Patrol checkpoint that is 70 miles north of the US-Mexico border. 

Agents searched the vehicle and found 67 packages stowed in the gas tank, according to U.S. Border Patrol/San Diego Sector Special Operations Supervisor Tekae Michael. Sixty-five of the bundles contained pills that tested positive for fentanyl and another two packages contained fentanyl powder, Michael reported. The total haul weighed just under 90 pounds and had a street value exceeding $900,000, according to Michael.

The narcotics along with the Tahoe driver and passengers, all U.S. citizens. were turned over to Homeland Security Investigations and the multi-agency Inland Crackdown Allied Task Force. Arrest records were not available. The Tahoe was seized by border patrol.

In a released statement, Eddy Wang, acting special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles, said his agency in partnership with the U.S. Border Patrol and INCA. is dedicated to preventing "this poison from hitting our streets." According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, just 2 milligrams of fentanyl is considered a potentially lethal dose. One pound of fentanyl contains 453,592 milligrams.

Fentanyl and heroin were seized from inside the tires of a Jeep Liberty.

About 48 hours after the bust, another one occurred in about the same area of Southwest Riverside County. At approximately 9:45 a.m. on May 26, border patrol agents stopped a white Jeep Liberty heading north on the interstate.

During that vehicle search, agents found 42 packages stowed in four tires that had after-market compartments, 34 bundles contained fentanyl powder, and eight contained heroin, according to Michael. The fentanyl weighed 39.5 pounds and had an estimated street value of $474,000. The heroin weighed 26.9 pounds and had an estimated street value of $345,600, Michael reported.

The driver, a Mexican national, was booked on state charges. The narcotics and vehicle were seized by border patrol, according to Michael. It's not clear what prompted agents to stop the vehicles and search them. Michael did not indicate whether the two incidents were linked.

So far this fiscal year, San Diego Sector U.S. Border Patrol agents, including those from the local Murrieta station, have seized over 560 pounds of fentanyl and 128 pounds of heroin, according to Michael. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection fiscal year begins October 1.

Source Patch