Wrong kind of fuel: Nearly 1,000 pounds of liquid meth seized in big rig fuel tank in San Diego
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- Customs officers at Otay Mesa discovered nearly 1,000 pounds of liquid methamphetamine concealed in a commercial truck’s fuel tank during an inspection.
- The driver, a 26-year-old Tijuana resident, was arrested and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted of drug importation.
The truck’s tank was full but it wasn’t with fuel.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa Import Cargo Facility in San Diego discovered nearly 1,000 pounds of liquid methamphetamine stuffed inside a commercial tractor-trailer’s fuel tank last week after spotting a white, crystalline substance on top of the tank during an inspection, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of California.
A follow-up search uncovered 29 buckets of liquid concealed inside the passenger-side fuel tank, totaling about 945 pounds. A sample from the fuel tank tested positive for methamphetamine, federal prosecutors said.
The founder of the ruthless Jalisco New Generation Cartel was killed Sunday in Mexico, authorities said, ending a criminal career that reshaped his country’s underworld after humble beginnings on the streets of San Francisco.
The driver, Oscar Alonzo Cesena Camacho, 26, a Mexican citizen from Tijuana traveling on a business visa, was arrested and charged with importation of a controlled substance under federal law, the U.S. attorney’s office said. He faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, up to life, and a fine of up to $10 million if convicted.
Cesena Camacho appeared in court March 3 before Magistrate Judge Jill L. Burkhardt, who ordered him held without bail, citing flight risk. A preliminary hearing is set for March 17 and arraignment for March 26, court records show.
Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are leading the investigation, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
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