CBP makes 1-ton marijuana seizure at San Diego-area crossing

CBP makes 1-ton marijuana seizure at San Diego-area crossing    U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa, Calif., cargo port of entry announced Wednesday the seizure of 2,066 pounds of marijuana from a tractor-trailer rig that attempted to cross the border Monday evening.
   Officers found 83 wrapped packages of marijuana — valued at more than $6 million — secreted within a hidden front-wall compartment in an apparently empty trailer of the California-plated vehicle, officials said.
   Otay Mesa, located just north of the U.S./Mexico border about 15 miles southeast of San Diego, is one of three ports of entry in San Diego County.
   Following an initial inspection that raised suspicions, CBP officers ordered the rig to the port’s gamma-ray facility for scanning. Empty cargo trucks crossing through the port from Mexico receive an initial gamma ray inspection to detect possible smuggling activity before they proceed to the California Highway Patrol safety inspection facility, officials said.
   The gamma ray scan detected the truck's hidden compartment where officers discovered the cellophane-wrapped packages. Field tests indicated the substance inside the packages was marijuana.
   U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested the driver, a 33-year old Mexican male. CBP officers seized the tractor-trailer and marijuana.
   The seizure brings the total CBP marijuana seizures at Otay Mesa since October 2006 to 21,236 pounds, up 22 percent over the year-ago period.