The truck’s tank was full but it wasn’t with fuel.
Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa Import Cargo Facility 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 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 approximately 428.60 kilograms, or 944.90 pounds. A sample from the fuel tank tested positive for methamphetamine, federal prosecutors said.
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.