San Diego: Dozens of kilos of cocaine, crystal, heroin seized

Traffic stop unveils dozens of kilos

In another case of a seemingly, or allegedly random drug indirection, one man driving near Temecula, 45 minutes or so outside San Diego, and maybe an hour from Tijuana were found in possession of roughly 400k in product.  Authorities estimate the lost product at 700k.  

A 39 year old man, in a 2004 Nissan Maxima was passing through the Interstate 15 checkpoint, and asked to perform a secondary inspection, which of course revealed a significant drug stash. Kilos, wrapped, straight from import, in varying quantities.  32 pounds, roughly 15 kilos of crystal, 2 kilos of white heroin, and 4 kilos of brown, and 3 kilos of cocaine.

Doing the math on these is always an imperfect, and highly critiqued process, so roughly 25,000 for the kilos of cocaine, 1700 each pound for the crystal, and 30,000 for the white heroin, 25,000 for the brown.  I may be off on the heroin, but it's still about 300,000-400,000 worth of product, at Tijuana wholesale costs, estimated.  It's well over a million on the market.  

It's an interesting load, heavy on the crystal and heroin, very light on the cocaine, which is by far the more expensive product.  Although, the white heroin may be an equal.  Heroin and crystal trafficking through Tijuana, and the rest of the border in general, as risen substantially in recent years.  Reports indicate displaced marijuana growers from Guerrero to Sinaloa have switched to opium cultivation, to make up for lost revenue.  

Heroin continues to seep into the veins, mouth, and nostrils, of America in what's been described as an epidemic, and covered from the NY Times, to the presidential campaigns.  Crystal ravages San Diego, and surrounding areas, a frenzied, and spiraling plague.  Statistics indicate that 46% of men arrested in San Diego county are under the influence of crystal. 

The drugs were likely LA bound, or one of the towns like Riverside, Corona, etc that dot the wasteland between LA and San Diego.  Economically depressed towns, driven to the brink by rising costs and sinking wages, where crystal and heroin seep from every cheap motel and run down apartment complex. 

They are crossed from Tijuana into San Diego, moved from stash houses to compact cars or trucks, and ran up the coast.  Runners are hired to drive sometimes unknown product, just imply given a car, instructions, and phones to communicate. DEA agents took  the suspects arrested last week into custody, given the amount of product they are looking at 10 years or so. 

Another indictment after the fact, 962-conspiracy to import controlled substances, more court appointed attorneys, more translators in court, in front of District Judges, and more sentences and subsequent deportations.

The deportees are sent into Tijuana, in overflowing, unsanitary conditions,  syringes and crystal pipes littering the area, living in the Tijuana river, representatives from various cells looking for gunmen, often pull up offering jobs for a few hundred pesos, this is the cycle.  

Sources: AFN Tijuana