Customs and Border Protection officers pulled a commercial passenger bus out of the line at the San Ysidro Port of Entry and found its fuel tank stuffed with cocaine. Breitbart reported that officers seized more than 262 pounds of cocaine concealed inside the gas tank. The driver, a Mexican national, was arrested on the spot.
Breitbart quoted San Ysidro Port Director Mariza Marin describing the seizure as more than 262 pounds, pulled from a fuel-tank compartment on the bus.
The vehicle involved was a 2004 MCI Dina commercial bus that was approaching inspection and entry into the United States, per the same report. Officers referred the bus to secondary inspection before a nonintrusive inspection system flagged anomalies in the bus's fuel tank and a CBP canine confirmed the alert, the outlet notes. The scan and canine alert were part of the secondary inspection.
Packages Hidden in a Non-Factory Compartment
Once officers got into the tank, they discovered 110 packages tucked into a compartment that was not part of the bus's original factory design, according to the same account. The street value of the load was estimated at roughly $5 million. The packages had reportedly been concealed by drug smugglers working for a cartel, the report states.
CBP officers arrested the driver and canceled his visa following the discovery, the outlet reports. He was expected to be handed over to California law enforcement so the case could be pursued as a state narcotics-importation charge, per the same account. The driver's identity and the bus operator have not been disclosed in available reporting.
Part of a Steady Stream of Border Seizures
Hidden-compartment busts on commercial buses are not new at San Ysidro. CBP has previously reported a February 2024 seizure of 144.84 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $1,116,900, found during a bus inspection at a border crossing. More recently, the agency detailed an April 28, 2026 vehicle search that turned up 81 packages of cocaine hidden inside a spare tire and gas tank at San Ysidro.
The scale of narcotics moving through the region's ports of entry has been substantial this year. CBP's San Diego Field Office reported that its July seizures alone included 553.91 pounds of fentanyl, 36.69 pounds of heroin, 2,572.83 pounds of cocaine, and 5,077.19 pounds of methamphetamine, with a combined estimated street value topping $67 million, according to the agency's own release.
