California Border Patrol Finds 27 Pounds of Meth in Booster Seat

A Border Patrol agent at the US–Mexico border in California, May 17, 2016. Bill Wechter/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents in Murrieta, California, arrested the driver of a car carrying 27 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in child booster seats, authorities announced June 17.

The suspect, a U.S. citizen, was driving on Interstate 15, north of a Border Patrol station, on June 15.

“Drug smugglers will use any means necessary to get their poison onto our streets. Nothing is sacred to them, not even family,” Aaron M. Heitke, Chief Patrol Agent at the San Diego Sector said in a release.

A man was driving with his wife and four of their children when agents stopped the car. A K9 team was dispatched and located the narcotics in three booster seats inside the car. Several packages were found containing methamphetamine, U.S. Border Patrol reported.

The estimated street value is $60,000, agents said.

Agents turned the driver over to the Inland Crackdown Allied Taskforce for prosecution. The vehicle was seized by Border Patrol. The four children and their mother were released.

Border Patrol K9 team alert agents to children booster seats, and with further inspection agents found several packages of methamphetamine in Murrieta, Calif., on June 20, 2022. Courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection