Pubdate: Sat, 28 Feb 2015
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Susan Shroder

RECORD POT HAUL SEIZED AT OTAY MESA CROSSING

15 Tons on Big Rig Port's Largest Cache, Second in the Nation

Record Otay Pot Bust: 15 Tons, $19m Value; Second Largest Ever at a 
U.S. Border Crossing

In what was described as a "very risky" drug-smuggling attempt, more 
than 15 tons of marijuana stacked in bundles was seized from a 
tractor-trailer at the Otay Mesa border crossing. Federal officials 
said Friday it was the largest seizure ever at the port and the 
second-largest at any crossing in the country.

The driver, a 46-year-old Mexican citizen, was alone in the cab when 
he drove into the commercial port about 6 p.m. Thursday, according to 
a federal charging complaint. His shipment was labeled as mattresses 
and cushions.

The smuggling attempt is suspected of being tied to a drug cartel in 
Mexico, said Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement in San Diego. More commonly, drug smugglers would 
try other means, such as border tunnels, to try to move such a large 
shipment, Mack said.

Attempting to smuggle tons of marijuana in a truck through the busy 
Otay commercial port is "definitely very risky," Mack said.

In the ongoing "cat-and-mouse" game that smugglers play to try to 
outsmart law enforcement, they are always trying new tactics, she 
said. In this case, "obviously they felt confident they were going to 
succeed," she said. During an X-ray examination, U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection officials identified an undisclosed "anomaly" in 
the trailer and the truck was sent to a dock, according to a 
statement sent by Customs and Border Patrol spokeswoman Jackie Wasiluk.

Agents asked the driver, identified as Martin Martinez-Penaflor, to 
cut the seal of the trailer and open the doors. Asked what he was 
carrying, according to the complaint, he replied, "mattresses."

As the doors opened, officers saw stacks of plastic-wrapped packages.

"Almost the entire trailer was filled with those packages from floor 
to ceiling, front to back, although there were a few mattresses 
stacked along the wall at the opposite end of the trailer from the 
doors," the statement said.

In all, there were nearly 1,300 packages. They weighed a total of 
nearly 32,000 pounds, much larger than the previous record seizure at 
the Otay port in 2003 of 19,999 pounds of marijuana, officials said.

Customs and Border Protection officials could not be reached for 
further details.

The amount came close to the record for the largest seizure ever at a 
border crossing in the United States. That was in Imperial County in 
July 2013, when 35,265 pounds of marijuana was seized at the Calexico 
East Port of Entry, officials said.

In that smuggling attempt, the marijuana was hidden from view in a 
tractor-trailer that was said to be carrying computer monitors. 
Customs and Border Protection officers found 2,471 packages of 
marijuana inside cardboard boxes behind pallets of computer parts.

Officials said at the time that the seizure dealt a significant blow 
to the drug-trafficking organizations operating in the region.

Martinez-Penaflor was booked into the federal Metropolitan 
Correctional Center in downtown San Diego and made an initial court 
appearance on Friday. He told authorities that he knew the trailer 
contained drugs, and said he was offered $50,000 to smuggle the 
marijuana the 150 miles from Tijuana to Burbank, according to the complaint.

He had a valid border-crossing card, and the truck and trailer had 
California license plates, the complaint said.

Figures released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security show the 
U.S.-Mexico border in California remains an important corridor for 
illegal drug shipments into the United States.

In the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, seizures at 
California ports accounted for 30 percent of the marijuana 
confiscated nationwide, along with 63 percent of the methamphetamine 
seized, 38 percent of the heroin and 12 percent of the cocaine, 
according to DHS figures for U.S. Customs and Border Protection's 
Office of Field Operations.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom