By SDCN Editor
San Diego, CA–U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the San Diego Field Office seized illegal narcotics with a street value of over 20 million dollars from 73 separate smuggling attempts from March 1 to March 17 at its ports of entry.
Officers removed 131 pounds of cocaine, 11 pounds of heroin, 10,967 pounds of methamphetamine, and 213 pounds of fentanyl from smugglers.
“Narcotics smuggling continues to be on the rise, and our officers are dedicated to ensuring the safety of our communities,” said Sidney Aki, Customs and Border Protection director of Field Operations for San Diego. “Our officers are effectively trained to stay alert for any suspicious activities and to detect unusual travel patterns.”
Suspects in these incidents were arrested and turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation. The narcotics and any associated vehicles used to smuggle the drugs were seized by CBP officers. The San Diego Field Office will continue to work closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement to crack down on drug smuggling.
These seizures are part of Operation Apollo. Operation Apollo is a joint regional operation comprised of federal, state, and local agencies working to combat the threat from fentanyl, and other illicit synthetic narcotics.
The San Diego Field Office comprises the following ports of entry: San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, San Diego Air and Seaport, Calexico East/West, Tecate, and Andrade.
The CDC states that more than 150 people die every day from drug overdoses related to synthetic opioids derived from fentanyl.
