U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry pulled off two major mid-April busts that, together, took nearly $2.8 million worth of fentanyl and methamphetamine out of circulation. The stops, on April 13 and April 19, led to arrests and the seizure of vehicles and phones, and federal agents say both investigations are still active while evidence is processed.
What officers found in two inspections
In the first incident on April 13, officers sent a vehicle to secondary inspection and uncovered six packages hidden inside the rear quarter panels. Officials say those packages held the equivalent of more than 500,000 fentanyl pills, with an estimated street value of about $764,727, and a 20-year-old man was arrested. According to FOX 5 San Diego, agents also seized the suspect's car and a cellphone during the April 13 stop.
Six days later, on April 19, officers again found narcotics in a vehicle, this time concealed in the roof. Inside were about 94 packages that held roughly 35 pounds of fentanyl powder, valued at nearly $1.95 million, along with more than 80 pounds of methamphetamine. The combined haul topped 116 pounds of narcotics. Per a CBP release republished by EIN News, a 27-year-old woman driving a 2019 Honda Pilot was taken into custody and is now facing federal narcotics-smuggling charges.
San Ysidro Port Director Mariza Marin credited officers and canine teams for their work, saying their vigilance kept what officials describe as deadly narcotics from reaching neighborhood streets. Her comments were included in the agency's account of the cases and echoed in local coverage.
Seizures fit a larger interdiction push
The two April stops are part of a much larger enforcement push by the CBP San Diego Field Office. A mid-April press release summarized a month of enforcement that netted thousands of pounds of narcotics and millions of dollars in estimated street value at area ports of entry. Local reporting on that release highlighted more than 6,000 pounds of narcotics seized in March, valued at over $14 million. KYMA reviewed the agency summary.
The public health stakes behind those numbers are grim. Federal briefings note that a single pound of fentanyl can contain hundreds of thousands of potentially lethal doses, which is why officials describe large fentanyl seizures as critical wins in the broader fight against overdoses. For background on the scale and risk posed by fentanyl, the Department of Homeland Security offers detailed information on potency, lethal doses, and ongoing interdiction efforts. DHS provides that context.
Legal next steps
CBP says seized narcotics and vehicles are routinely turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for forensic testing and prosecutorial review. In these cases, the April 13 stop has already been referred to federal prosecutors, and the April 19 matter is also under investigation. Per the agency's account, republished by news outlets, suspects in both stops now face potential federal charges while evidence is analyzed and tests confirm the drug identities.
For San Diego neighborhoods, the April seizures mean a significant amount of potentially deadly product was stopped at the line, though officials and public health experts caution that traffickers will keep probing routes and concealment methods. Investigations remain ongoing, and CBP is asking anyone with information about smuggling activity to contact federal law enforcement tip lines.
