Posted on July 26, 2017

Cops Find 310 Pounds of Marijuana Worth $250,000 in the Bed and Walls of a Pickup Truck Being Driven Across the Border

James Wilkinson, Daily Mail, July 26, 2017

Border cops in El Paso made a major haul on Saturday when they found 310 pounds of marijuana hidden in a pickup truck travelling from Mexico.

The drug packs – with an estimated street value of $248,000 – were found hidden underneath, and in the walls and doors of the pickup.

‘This smuggler used almost every square inch of space he could in an attempt to transport a large drug load into the country,’ Beverly Good, CBP El Paso port director told News West 9.

The truck was stopped trying to enter the country at Paso Del Norte international bridge crossing around noon.

An officer on the job saw something unusual about the back wall of the 2000 GMC Sierra and sent it on for a second check by a drug dog.

When the dog sniffed out some of the suspicious packages, the truck was sent for an X-ray.

At that point the rest was found along the rear walls, in one door of the truck and underneath the pickup’s bed.

Ruben Jauregui, a border protection officer in El Paso, told Fox News that he and other officers are trained to spot unusual trucks.

‘They’re pretty knowledgeable on what the normal comparmtents of vehicles are, so when there is a modification they can see it,’ he said.

‘In this case there was a modification in the rear wall leading into the bed of the truck, so that brought some suspicion.’

He said officers seize anything from a few ounces of drugs to several pounds of controlled substances ‘several times a day’.

The 41-year-old driver, who is a Mexican citizen, was handed over to ICE agents and will be charged in connection with the haul.

‘The thorough inspections CBP officers perform prevented this load from reaching its final destination,’ Good said.