Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

The San Diego Border Patrol Sector is reporting a huge fentanyl bust at one of its checkpoints north of the California-Mexico border. It happened Thursday, September 5, 2024, on Interstate 8 near Pine Valley.

A Border Patrol K-9 alerted as a 22-year-old man drove up to the checkpoint, prompting agents to look closer at his car.

Suspicious bags in the trunk of a car passing through an I-8 Border Patrol checkpoint caught the attention of agents after a K9 alerted.Photo byU.S. Border Patrol

Inside the trunk officers found nine cellophane bags - all containing a large number of blue pills - which were found to be fentanyl. Agents seized 168 pounds of the drug with an estimated street value of $1.3 million.

This is what a load of fentanyl worth more than a million dollars looks like.Photo byU.S. Border Patrol

Nearly half of the approximately 2,800 pounds of fentanyl seized by the U.S. Border Patrol in Fiscal Year 2023 was encountered in its San Diego Sector which encompasses sixty miles of international border with Mexico beginning at Imperial Beach, California. San Diego Border Patrol agents have seized approximately 600 pounds of fentanyl in the current fiscal year.

This latest seizure is part of "Operation Apollo", a joint operation of federal, state, and local agencies to combat the threat of fentanyl and other illicit narcotics.

Photo byU.S. Border Patrol

Mexican Cartels are very aware of Operation Apollo's success in targeting their Fentanyl Operations which began on October 23, 2023. I have written an article about that if you would like to learn more:

• Operation Apollo Wrecks Cartels U.S. Fentanyl Biz

Based on the early successes of Operation Apollo, the pressure against Mexican Cartel Fentanyl Operations is likely to continue in the months ahead.

Do you believe enough is being done to prevent Mexican Cartels from smuggling fentanyl into the U.S.A.?

Share your opinion in the comments on this article!

For more stories like this "Follow Me" on the Newsbreak App and "Like" this article to stay up to date on immigration and border security issues regularly covered by Jack Beavers on Newsbreak like these:

• Texas Border: Truckloads of Migrants Found
• Fed Cartel Cocaine Crackdown on U.S. Border
• Cartel Booby Traps Target Border Patrol Agents
• Big Border Drug Busts: Cops vs. Cartels

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