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Border Patrol foils two smuggling teams in North County

San Diego Border Patrol agents arrested two brothers and a husband and wife team who were smuggling heroin and methamphetamine inside their vehicles.
Border Patrol foils two smuggling teams in North County

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A married couple and a pair of brothers were facing charges Thursday in connection with two separate drug busts at Border Patrol checkpoints in San Diego County.

In the first of the busts Tuesday, agents at the checkpoint on Interstate 15 near Fallbrook stopped a 2009 Toyota Tacoma occupied by 24- and 29- year-old brothers around 1 p.m. A drug-sniffing dog alerted agents to a cooler in the backseat with about five pounds of heroin stashed in its lining, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The two men were taken into custody in connection with the more than $71,000 worth of heroin inside the pickup truck and were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration, federal authorities said.

Around 7:45 p.m., Border Patrol agents patrolling near San Onofre approached a 2005 Infinity sedan parked alongside Interstate 5 as the 46-year-old woman and the driver's seat and her passenger, her 64-year-old husband, were rummaging around, according to CBP public affairs. A vial of what was later determined to be crystal methamphetamine and a pipe were spotted in the center console area.

A subsequent search of the car turned up more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine worth an estimated $518,000 in bundles hidden in the sedan's fuel tank, federal authorities said. The couple was also arrested and handed off to the DEA.

None of the suspects' names were made public. Both vehicles were seized by the Border Patrol, authorities said.

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

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