Federal Officials Make Meth Bust — One Of Largest In U.S. History — At Otay Mesa Border Crossing
LAPPL News Watch
August 9, 2021
Federal
authorities made what they called one of the largest methamphetamine
busts in U.S. history this week, finding more than 5,528 pounds of the
drug inside a semitrailer that crossed from Mexico at the Otay Mesa Port
of Entry in San Diego.
Agents also found more than 127 pounds of
fentanyl inside the commercial truck, which had California license
plates and was being driven by a Mexican citizen, authorities said.
The
driver, Carlos Gerardo Symonds Saavedra, was charged Friday with two
federal felony counts of importing controlled substances into the U.S.
Each count carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a
maximum of life imprisonment.
“This is believed to be one of the largest
methamphetamine seizures in the nation’s history,” officials from the
office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California said
in a news release Friday night.
Last October, authorities found about
3,000 pounds of methamphetamine in a semitrailer at the same port of
entry. At the time, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson
said it was the second-largest bust ever, behind only a 5,000-pound bust
in December 2019 in Laredo, Texas.
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