Mexican State Police Seize 500 Pounds of Meth in Tijuana

State police in Tijuana seized nearly 500 pounds of methamphetamine during a traffic stop Thursday.

Baja State Preventive Police (PEP) and the Mexican Army (SEDENA) responded to an anonymous complaint which indicated that an unknown male aboard a Toyota Sienna was in possession of several large packages believed to contain illegal drugs. Instigators began to circulate in the highlighted to neighborhood and located a matching vehicle. The state police then conducted a traffic stop and immediately noticed the driver was acting nervous while speaking with the officers. Victor “N,” 71, was asked to exit his vehicle while a search eventually led to numerous plastic storage boxes containing methamphetamine. The total weight came out to 498 pounds, according to local reports.

Police also located three rifles and one handgun with extra ammunition. The driver was arrested and turned over to the state attorney general’s office.

Additionally, U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Calexico and El Centro made three seizures during the past week, resulting in the confiscation of 524 pounds of methamphetamine, 64 pounds of heroin, and 5 pounds of cocaine for a total value of $2,919,634. The seizures resulted in the arrests of four individuals — three U.S citizens and one Mexican national.

Cheap, high-quality methamphetamine is cited as one of the primary factors for the record-breaking violence in Tijuana. Breitbart Texas local law enforcement sources indicate that most of the murders are related to the street-level distribution of meth by gangs operating on behalf of the major cartels. Tijuana recorded 2,518 homicides in 2018 and 1,375 in 2019 thus far. By comparison, San Diego tallied 35 homicides in 2018.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com