Massive Mexico-California border busts uncover eye-popping amount of drugs: ‘Remain vigilant’

Massive Mexico-California border busts uncover eye-popping amount of drugs: 'Remain vigilant'

Agents at San Ysidro and Calexico East ports of entry found drugs hidden in a car's firewall and flooring

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Black Hawk intercepts drug-laden ship off the coast of Puerto Rico

U.S. border agents take Dominican nationals into custody along with 178 kg of cocaine. (Credit: Ozzy Trevino/U.S. Customs and Border Protection – May 14)

Customs and Border Protection stopped two separate vehicles and confiscated over $300,000 worth of narcotics over the span of a day.

The apprehensions continue to demonstrate the high volume of narcotics that smugglers are attempting to bring across the southern U.S. border, even as immigration numbers have plummeted in recent months.

On Sunday, May 17, agents at the San Ysidro Port of Entry referred a 2013 Honda Civic for secondary inspection. After an imaging system detected anomalies in the car’s firewall, they discovered six packages of white fentanyl powder worth roughly $113,600 along with 8.4 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $161,600.

CBP OFFICERS SEIZE OVER $14M OF ALLEGED METHAMPHETAMINE AT SOUTHERN BORDER

Two shipments of narcotics apprehended by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Customs and Border Protection)

That same day at the Calexico East Port of Entry, about 100 miles away, a 2011 Nissan Cube was also sent to secondary inspection. Agents there discovered 63 packets of methamphetamine after a scan of that vehicle detected anomalies in its flooring.

Officials praised both detections.

"Sunday may be a day of rest for many, but criminals don’t take days off, and neither do our CBP officers," San Diego Director of Field Operations Sidney Aki said

"Our officers remain vigilant around the clock, and these significant seizures are a direct result of their commitment to keeping dangerous drugs like these from entering our country."

SOUTHERN BORDER APPREHENSIONS PLUNGE MORE THAN 90% FROM YEAR AGO IN APRIL, CBP SAYS

CBP officers escort a wanted person at a U.S. port of entry. (Customs and Border Protection)

The agency believes its operations are a continuation of efforts laid out by President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, even as immigration border crossings have come down.

Since the end of 2024, border crossings have plummeted, going from over 144,000 encounters in December 2024 to just 10,000 in April.

Even so, CBP has reported several high-profile smuggling attempts that have sought to bring weapons, narcotics and humans across the U.S. border.

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A US Border Patrol pickup is parked next to a wall under construction at the US-Mexico border in Santa Teresa, N.M., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, on Jan. 14, 2026. (Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images)

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Recently, CBP has released reports on how it had prevented a car carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher from crossing the border, detected dozens of immigrants crammed into a semi-truck and even detained a boat off the coast of the Dominican Republic with the help of a Black Hawk helicopter.

"CBP officers along the southwest border stop illegal activity, including the smuggling of drugs and humans, and facilitate lawful entry for millions of legitimate travelers into the United States," CBP said in a statement.

Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.

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