300 people from over 30 countries apprehended in 13 hours in San Diego Sector
By BETHANY BLANKLEY
THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR
(The Center Square) – As Texas’ Operation Lone Star efforts continue to put pressure on the Mexican cartels that control human and drug smuggling and as cartel infighting continues, illegal border activity is increasing farther west in Arizona and California.
California Border Patrol agents, with San Diego Sector agents reporting the bulk, reported more than 35,000 apprehensions and gotaways last month, according to preliminary data The Center Square obtained from a Border Patrol agent on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. This is after California Border Patrol agents reported more than 300,000 apprehensions and gotaways of foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S. in fiscal 2022, The Center Square previously reported.
So far this fiscal year, California CBP agents have seized enough lethal doses of narcotics to kill over 15 million people, according to Border Patrol data.
San Diego Sector’s Imperial Beach station agents recently apprehended 290 people from more than 30 different countries illegally entering the U.S. in less than 13 hours, CBP reported. On March 24, they encountered the first large group of 90 people who’d illegally entered in the Goat Canyon area four miles west of San Ysidro Port of Entry.
As agents secured the first group, a second group of 56 people illegally entered near the South Levee area one mile west of San Ysidro POE. Later on, a third group of 114 was apprehended near South Levee; a fourth group of 30 was apprehended near Goat Canyon.
Overall, in 13 hours, Border Patrol agents apprehended citizens of Afghanistan, Angola, Belize, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, India, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Romania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Turkey, Vietnam and Yemen, CBP reported.
San Diego Sector CBP Office of Field Operations agents are also seizing record amounts of narcotics. On March 17, CBP reported that since Oct. 1, 2023, San Diego Sector agents had seized over 514 pounds of cocaine, 765 pounds of methamphetamine, 45 pounds of heroin, and 583 pounds of fentanyl. That was before agents made record drug busts that weekend.
From March 17-19, San Diego agents thwarted three major narcotics smuggling attempts. In one stop, they seized 33 packages of methamphetamine weighing over 201 pounds hidden in the seats, floor, and firewall of a vehicle driven by a 25-year-old woman. In a second, they seized 80 packages of fentanyl pills weighing nearly 175 pounds. In a third, they seized nearly 11 pounds of fentanyl pills and over seven pounds of fentanyl powder. In total, they seized over $5.7 million worth of narcotics.
In one day, on March 20, agents at San Ysidro, Tecate and Otay Mesa ports of entry seized an estimated street value of $1.6 million worth of methamphetamine, fentanyl, pharmaceutical drugs, and a handgun and ammunition.
In separate instances, San Ysidro POE agents seized a total of 468.9 pounds of methamphetamine, one handgun, two magazines, and 51 rounds of 9 mm ammunition. Otay Mesa POE agents also seized a 4.85-pound package of fentanyl powder with an estimated street value of $48,500 and nearly 160 pounds of liquid methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $500,000.
On March 17, Newton-Azrak POE agents seized 30 packages of cocaine weighing 73 pounds hidden inside a vehicle with a street value of $991,500.
In the El Centro Sector, on March 15, Calexico East Cargo Facility agents seized nearly 120 pounds of cocaine hidden inside a shipment of watermelons with an estimated street value of $1.5 million.
The majority of alleged drug smugglers CBP apprehended were men between the ages of 25 and 65.
Two grams of fentanyl, 150 milligrams of meth, and 82.5 milligrams of cocaine are considered lethal doses, according to AddictionResource.com. A standard lethal dose of heroin remains inconclusive. The amount of drugs seized translates to over 354,000 lethal doses of fentanyl, over 4.8 million lethal doses of meth, and over 2.8 million lethal doses of cocaine.
Much farther north, in Kern County, a multi-agency effort led to the bust of a methamphetamine conversion lab operating on a large rural property in the Neenach area, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office announced March 28. The meth lab was run by three male Mexican nationals from Mexicali. After a search warrant was issued, two men attempted to flee on foot but were apprehended. All three were arrested and charged with multiple counts of crimes related to a controlled substance and conspiracy to commit a crime, the sheriff’s office said.
After dismantling the lab, officers found and seized 121 pounds of finished crystal meth, roughly 350 pounds of liquid methamphetamine, and several rifles and handguns. They also found 758 pounds of packaged meth hidden inside a vehicle.
In this one drug bust alone, law enforcement officers seized enough lethal doses of meth in Kern County to kill over 3.7 million people.
The combined 18.7 million lethal doses of narcotics seized excludes seizures by other law enforcement officers statewide this fiscal year, meaning the volume of narcotics being seized is significantly higher.
