73 Pounds Of Cocaine Discovered Near Murrieta

MURRIETA, CA — Two men were taken into custody this week after U.S. Border Patrol agents pulled them over on Interstate 15 near Murrieta and found nearly $1 million worth of cocaine in their vehicle, the federal agency reported Friday.

The incident unfurled as agents assigned to Murrieta's Theodore Newton and George Azrak Border Patrol Station were policing the freeway and stopped a dark-colored 2011 Jeep Liberty at approximately 10:45 a.m. Wednesday.

As agents questioned the American 31-year-old driver and his 42-year-old passenger (a Mexican national with U.S. permanent resident status), a Border Patrol K-9 alerted the officers.

Agents searched the Jeep and found 30 brick-shaped packages inside two duffle bags in the rear passenger seat, according to a U.S. Border Patrol news release.

After further investigation, it was discovered cocaine was in the packages. In total, the haul weighed 73 pounds and had an estimated street value of $991,500, according to the federal agency.

The two men and the narcotics were turned over to the Inland Crackdown Allied Task Force. Led by the Department of Justice's Division of Law Enforcement, the task force is made up of special agents from Homeland Security Investigations and local law enforcement agencies. Its mission is to target drug trafficking organizations operating in the Inland Empire region.

“Criminal organizations go to great lengths to conceal and smuggle dangerous narcotics in order to make millions of dollars," San Diego Border Patrol Sector Chief Aaron M. Heitke said in a released statement. "This is done without regard to the health and safety of our communities.”

Further details about the two men were not released.

The U.S. Border Patrol seized the Jeep.