Woman Unwittingly Smuggles 30 Pounds Of Marijuana Across San Diego Border
San Diego detectives are investigating one woman's shocking discovery while she was waiting to begin work on Friday morning. Police have obtained several packages from under her car that, combined, contain over 30 pounds of marijuana.
It all started at around 3 in the morning on Friday after the 33-year-old woman, who remains unnamed, crossed the border from her home in Mexico to travel to her job in San Diego. While waiting to begin work at around 4 a.m., the woman's vehicle was approached by two unknown men. The men proceeded to try and remove six packages from underneath the woman's car, but were startled by her presence and fled the scene.
Soon after, the woman called the authorities. When they arrived on the scene officers located the hidden packages and upon opening them found the 30 pounds of marijuana.
The exact details of what took place are still uncertain, but narcotics investigators are developing a likely scenario. It is currently believed that associates for a Mexican drug cartel affixed the packages to the underside of the woman's car so that she could unwittingly transport the drugs across the border for them. Once she parked her car, two men who were in on the smuggling scheme came to collect the goods.
"It's pretty much all organized smuggling at this point and it's pretty much all controlled by the transnational criminal organizations that operate over there," says Jeffrey Self, a commander for Customs and Border Protection.
The tactics of organized crime professionals have become increasingly advanced as protection of the border has gotten more stringent in recent years. As some officials are quick to note however, there is not always much that can be done about scenarios such as this.
"I don't care how many more Border Patrol you have," Nogales, AZ Mayor Arturo Garino said. "You can't secure this border any more than it is right now, and that is a fact. Do we want to line them up, hand in hand, all the way to Texas?"
No arrests have been made so far in the case, and authorities have no substantial leads at this time. They are taking this scenario as a chance to remind people about the importance of thoroughly checking their vehicle before crossing the border.