Authorities Seize Nearly $1 Million of Pot at Two Border Checkpoints

Federal agents at border stations in southern San Diego seized more than 2,500 pounds of marijuana and two vehicles from would-be smugglers over a roughly seven-hour period, authorities said Wednesday.

A U.S. citizen, 28, drove into San Ysidro Port of Entry in a 2009 Toyota Corolla about 5 a.m. Tuesday, according to Customs and Border Protection officials. 

In the trunk of the car, agents found 437 pounds of pot valued at nearly $20,000 on the street.

Late the same morning, a Mexican man, 43, entered a cargo facility at Otay Mesa Port of Entry in a tractor-trailer. 

During a search of the big rig, agents discovered 2,090 pounds of marijuana wrapped in 124 bundles and mixed in with a shipment of liquid fabric softener. The pot would have brought in more that $940,000, authorities said.

Both suspects were arrested and booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego. Their names were withheld.