Was anyone out there expecting a delivery of 30 pounds of methamphetamine from a 24-year-old fellow who is a citizen of the United States? It's not coming, advises the U.S. Border Patrol.
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As the driver of a 2007 Dodge Caliber was answering routine questions from a border agent at the checkpoint near San Clemente around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, one of the patrol's drug-sniffing dogs gave an alert, according to a statement from the agency.
Agents then searched the left rocker panel area of the Dodge and, upon removing the cover, found freezer bags filled with white crystals, the Border Patrol says.
After interior panels on both sides of the car were removed, 23 bags with nearly 34 pounds of meth had been discovered, according to the Border Patrol, which estimated the street value at $330,900.
The meth and the driver, who was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and possession of a controlled substance, were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.