Blythe, Calif. - U.S. Border Patrol agents seized several bundles of cocaine hidden inside a tractor trailer at the Highway 95 checkpoint south of Quartzsite, Ariz. on Saturday.
Agents discovered three toolboxes filled with cocaine in these makeshift hiding places built into lumber piles.
At about 11 a.m., Border Patrol agents from the Yuma sector referred a red tractor trailer for secondary inspection when a Border Patrol canine team alerted to the trailer, indicating the likely presence of hidden persons or narcotics concealed within the trailer.
In secondary, Border Patrol agents inspected the trailer, which contained stacks of lumber, and discovered three toolboxes containing bundles of cocaine. The toolboxes were concealed within makeshift compartments constructed out of the lumber.
Agents seized a total of 57 bundles of cocaine weighing 147 pounds with an estimated street value of $4.6 million. Agents arrested the driver and passenger who were later turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the semi and cocaine.
Since Oct. 1, 2009, Yuma sector Border Patrol agents have seized 624 pounds of cocaine with a total street value of nearly $20 million.