Multiple law enforcement agencies apprehend heroin smuggler who fled scene

Working with law enforcement officers from Riverside County, Murrieta Police Department, and the California Highway Patrol, Border Patrol agents apprehended a suspected Heroin drug smuggler who fled a BP checkpoint on Interstate 15 yesterday.

“At approximately 10:30 a.m., agents and Murrieta Police officers on patrol attempted to stop a red 2005 Dodge Neon just south of the I-15 checkpoint,” Border Patrol agent Scott Simon said. “The driver of the vehicle, a 28-year-old male United States citizen, failed to yield and threw two bundles of heroin out of his driver’s side window. Next, the suspected smuggler drove onto the center median and sped through the checkpoint.”

Border Patrol quickly notified local law enforcement for assistance and the Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies dispatched air assets to locate the suspect who fled into Temecula.

“Sheriff’s deputies in the air observed the suspect hiding in some brush near the off ramp and directed personnel on the ground to his location,” according to Simon.

Once authorities located and arrested the suspect, officers subsequently turned the man over to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for further investigation.

“The suspected smuggler faces federal charges for narcotics smuggling and high speed flight from a checkpoint,” Border Patrol agents said. “The two heroin bundles weighed a total of nearly two pounds and had an estimated street value of $25,740.”

Over the past three days, Border Patrol agents kept busy at San Diego Interstate checkpoints, seizing more than $500,000 worth of cocaine and crystal meth.

“Yesterday, agents assigned to the I-5 checkpoint near San Clemente arrested a 41-year-old male Mexican national after he attempted to smuggle 1.036 pounds of methamphetamine in a silver 2002 Dodge Durango,” Simon explained. It was a Border Patrol K-9 team that alerted agents to a briefcase located on the rear seat of the vehicle. After agents searched the vehicle, they discovered a softball-sized bundle of methamphetamine located in the briefcase with a street value of $20,720.

To report suspicious activity to the U.S. Border Patrol, contact San Diego Sector at (619) 498-9900.

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