Murrieta Border Patrol Agents Catch Meth Smuggler On I-15: CBP

TEMECULA, CA — A man accused of hauling more than 140 pounds of methamphetamine into the Temecula Valley is behind bars after being arrested on suspicion of multiple felonies. Robert Park Walker was arrested Sunday by U.S. Border Patrol agents based out of the Murrieta station and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail, booking records show.

Walker was nabbed around 9:15 p.m. Sunday after he was stopped in a 2007 Ford F-150 pickup while headed northbound on Interstate 15, near the Border Patrol checkpoint, according to Border Patrol Spokesman Agent Theron Francisco.

"During the vehicle stop, one of the agents conducted an exterior search of the Ford F-150 with a Border Patrol K-9, resulting in an alert," Francisco said. "The agents conducted a further search of the vehicle and discovered 33 bundles of methamphetamine stashed inside the wood paneling from the pickup’s stake bed."

The drugs weighed 143.88 pounds and have an estimated street value of $330,640, Francisco said.

Walker was arrested without incident and booked into the Byrd Detention Center in French Valley on suspicion of drug smuggling and being in possession of more than 40 pounds of controlled substances, records showed.

The drugs were turned over to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and Border Patrol seized the truck, according to Francisco.

The Border Patrol's San Diego sector, which encompasses southwest Riverside County, has seized a total 3,464 pounds of meth valued at $7.97 million since last Oct. 1, according to Francisco.

— City News Service contributed to this report.