Windsurf Board Hauls 141lbs.
Of Weed Across Border 0
Looks like surfers are again getting the drug rap.
Two men, three boards and 141 pounds of marijuana —- that’s what U.S. Border Patrol agents found when they stopped two surfers off the San Diego County coast Thursday night.
The men were illegal immigrants, and they were trying to smuggle six bales of the drug on one of the surfboards. It’s one of the more creative ways criminals are trying to sneak drugs into the country via the ocean, said Mike Unzueta, special agent in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s San Diego office.
“We’ve seen marijuana that was hidden within surfboards,” Unzueta said. “We’ve seen compartments built into boats. We’ve seen people smuggling on Jet Skis, too.”
Just nine months into the federal fiscal year, nearly 54,000 pounds of marijuana have been intercepted on their way to local shores, Unzueta said.
That’s double what agents would expect to find in a 12-month period, he said.
Officials from multiple agencies say smugglers may be heading out to sea because of increased security at the land border between the United States and Mexico