Boxes filled with about $600,000 worth of Xanax were seized Wednesday evening by Border Patrol agents on Interstate 5 near Camp Pendleton, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents said.
The seizure occurred after agents with the San Clemente station stopped a driver in a pickup on the freeway around 4:50 p.m., agents said in a news release.
A canine unit searched the pickup and alerted its handler to narcotics inside the vehicle, investigators said. Agents reported discovering in the backseat 11 boxes — or around 90,000 pills — of individual packages of Farmapram, whose U.S. brand name is Xanax. The drug is used to treat anxiety and panic disorders but is also known to be highly abused.
The driver, narcotics and vehicle were handed over to the Drug Enforcement istration. The driver now faces allegations of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
