Nearly 50 Pounds Of Cocaine Seized Along I-5 Near Camp Pendleton

CAMP PENDLETON, CA — Authorities seized nearly 50 pounds of cocaine after stopping a car on Interstate 5 near Camp Pendleton, officials announced Monday.

Agents from the Border Patrol's San Diego Sector stopped a sedan driving northbound on I-5 around 5:45 p.m. Thursday, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"After a brief interview with the adult male driver, the agents requested that a K-9 unit respond to the vehicle stop," a news release said. "After a positive alert from the agency K-9, agents searched the trunk and discovered two white trash bags filled with cellophane-wrapped packages consistent with drug smuggling."

The agents from the San Clemente station took the the vehicle, suspected narcotics, driver and adult male passenger to a nearby patrol station. They found 19 packages of cocaine that weighed 47.51 pounds, with an estimated street value of nearly $810,000, according to Border Patrol officials.

The Drug Enforcement Administration took custody of the cocaine, while the Border Patrol seized the vehicle. The driver and passenger were facing drug trafficking charges, officials said.

The seizure was the most recent in a string of Border Patrol interdictions along interstate highways in the San Diego area. Officials seized 18 pounds of fentanyl along I-15 on Feb. 19 and 143 pounds of cocaine along I-5 on Feb. 18.