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Fentanyl pills. | Photo courtesy of the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration
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A trucker who was arrested last year after authorities say he was caught with record-breaking amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl inside his truck while trying to cross into the United States at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison.
Carlos Martin Quintana-Arias, a Mexican resident whose age was not disclosed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, was arrested on Nov. 18, 2021, after 17,584 pounds of methamphetamine and 388.93 pounds of fentanyl were seized from the trailer of his truck.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, both amounts mark the largest seizures of either drug in the entire United States in either 2021 or 2022 thus far.
Prosecutors allege Quintana-Arias’ manifest indicated his trailer contained auto body parts, but “anomalies” were detected in the trailer by both an X-Ray machine and drug dog on scene.
Officials found 6,266 packages of drugs inside the trailer, which also contained “a few” automotive body parts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Of those packages, 6,106 contained substances that tested positive for methamphetamine, while the remaining 160 contained substances tested positive for fentanyl.
Quintana-Arias pleaded guilty earlier this year to an importation of a controlled substance count.
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