SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (KGTV) - Border Patrol agents arrested a teenager Tuesday on suspicion of smuggling heroin along Interstate 5 in San Clemente.
The 19-year-old man was weaving in and out of lanes near Camino de Estrella about 3 a.m., agents said. He drove his 1997 Chevy pickup truck to a nearby gas station and agents followed to conduct a safety check.
“During the encounter, the agents grew suspicious of the driver’s behavior and they decided to request for a K-9 team to respond. The K-9 alerted to the truck’s engine compartment,” agent Theron S. Francisco said in a news release.
Agents said they found four packages of heroin inside the truck’s air intake box. The drugs weighed almost five pounds and had a street value of about $127,000.
The driver, a U.S. citizen, faces felony drug smuggling charges.
