150 Pounds of Liquid Meth Found in Truck's Gas Tank

San Diego-based U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said it's unusual to discover such a large amount of liquid meth in a border bust

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in south San Diego discovered a large drug haul Tuesday: nearly 150 pounds of liquid methamphetamine stashed inside the gas tank of a pickup truck attempting to cross the border.

At around 11:30 a.m., a 31-year-old man arrived at the San Ysidro Port of Entry driving a 1994 Ford F250 XL truck, according to CBP officials. During an inspection of the vehicle, a CBP officer noticed the driver behaving nervously.

The truck and the man were then referred to a secondary, more intensive inspection.

During that screening, a narcotics detector dog alerted CBP officers to the truck's undercarriage, near the fuel tank, officials said. In that tank, officers found 149.67 pounds of liquid meth.

The large amount of drugs discovered in this case make this a particularly noteworthy border bust, said Pete Flores, Director of Field Operations for CBP in San Diego.

"Although it is unusual for us to find liquid methamphetamine, it is becoming a more common occurrence in recent years," Flores explained. "Even more unusual is finding such a large amount. I'm proud of the vigilant officers who stopped this from entering our communities."

CBP officials said a total of 14,732 pounds of meth was seized by CBP officers along the California-Mexico border in fiscal year 2014.

In this case, the driver, who is a U.S. citizen, was turned over to agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations and was ultimately arrested on suspicion of smuggling. His name was not released, but officials said he was booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center to face federal charges.

Scroll through our gallery above or click here for more photos of drug busts at U.S.-Mexico border crossings in San Diego.

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