Man arrested with $500k of cocaine in car with wife, baby son

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection(SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.) — Border Patrol agents arrested a man smuggling over $500,000 worth of cocaine in the car that he was travelling in with his wife and son. The arrest took place on Thursday in San Clemente, California, when agents observed a suspicious vehicle traveling past them at around 85 MPH, weaving between lanes and around drivers, according to ABC News affiliate KGTV. The vehicle stopped at a shopping mall, where the driver walked about quickly with his wife, before being confronted by agents who asked for consent to search their vehicle. The couple agreed and agents uncovered a duffel bag containing 20 brick-shaped packages of cocaine, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Border Patrol. Agents also discovered a package of cocaine in a shopping bag near the infant’s car seat. The 21 packages of cocaine weighed over 51lbs combined, and authorities estimate it has a street value of $512,500.As agents questioned the male driver of the vehicle, his wife took their infant son to a nearby mall, saying she needed to use the restroom. The pair did not return and were subsequently located around a quarter of a mile from the site of the arrest. The driver, identified only as a 34-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested and turned over, along with the seized cocaine, to the Orange Country Drug Enforcement Administration office. The mother and infant were released. Though valued at a significant amount of money, the haul is relatively minor compared to some made in recent years. In March 2019, authorities in New York seized 3,200 pounds of cocaine in a shipping container, which had an estimated street value of $77 million.In June of the same year, authorities in Philadelphia seized 16.5 tons of cocaine from a cargo ship, which had a street value of $1 billion. In total, authorities seized 388,970 pounds of cocaine at border crossings or in domestic field operations between 2012 and 2018, according to the most recent data available from the Congressional Research Service. Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.