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11 pounds of meth found in lining of passenger's suitcase at LAX

LA Times, July 26, 2016

Customs officers at Los Angeles International Airport found more than 11 pounds of methamphetamine in the lining of a woman’s suitcase who had just arrived from Mexico, authorities announced Wednesday.

The passenger, a 27-year-old woman from San Ysidro, had arrived from Guadalajara on July 18 and was stopped for a secondary inspection “due to her nervous behavior,” officials with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release.

Inspectors who opened up her suitcase noticed an odd smell and found a false compartment that hid tape-wrapped packages of crystal meth worth about $160,000, officials said. The packages weighed about 11 ¼ pounds.

“Once again, the training, expertise and commitment of our LAX CBP Officers prevented dangerous narcotics from entering and harming our community,” CBP Los Angeles Area Port Director Mitchell Merriam said in a statement.

The agency seizes more than 9,000 pounds of drugs daily at the nation’s 328 international points of entry, authorities said. The woman was arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.