El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents from the Indio Station arrested a woman suspected of smuggling 0.75 pounds of cocaine and 4.07 pounds of heroin inside her vehicle’s battery this week at the Highway 86 immigration checkpoint.
After a Border Patrol detection canine team alerted officers to a 2002 green Jeep Liberty driven by a 23-year-old woman Monday afternoon, agents referred the vehicle to secondary for further examination.
During the secondary inspection, the canine team alerted again to the vehicle and the agents found two vacuum-sealed packages of narcotics inside a modified battery in the vehicle.
“Our K-9 agents play a vital role in the safeguarding of our communities by helping prevent dangerous drugs such as these from reaching our city streets,” Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David S. Kim said.
The cocaine hidden in the vehicle has an estimated street value of $9,750, while the heroin has an estimated street value of $56,980.
The driver, a United States citizen was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the vehicle and the narcotics.
In fiscal year 2018, El Centro Sector Border Patrol officers have seized approximately 6.59 pounds of heroin and 0.75 pounds of cocaine.