Customs and Border Protection agents found fentanyl pills with a street value of $2.25 million hidden in the car of a mother traveling from Mexico with her eight-year-old daughter, the agency announced Thursday.
On June 16, agents at the San Ysidro port of entry near San Diego stopped a 2010 sedan of unspecified make and model, driven by an unnamed 29-year-old woman from Mexico.
An initial inspection of the car revealed plastic-wrapped bundles in the rear panels, and CBP personnel referred the woman and her car for further examination.
A total of 61 packages of colored fentanyl pills weighing over 42 pounds were found hidden in the dashboard, gas tank and behind the upholstery of the driver and passenger seats, along with those packages detected in the rear panels. CBP agents found 14 packages with assorted colors, 16 with pink pills and 31 with blue pills.
The young girl was turned over to familial custody while the driver was detained on charges of drug smuggling. CBP would ultimately hand over the 29-year-old woman to Homeland Security Investigations.
