A Border Patrol canine is being praised after preventing a large batch of fentanyl hidden inside burritos from being smuggled into the US on Monday.
A Yuma Sector Border Patrol canine sniffed out nearly 5 pounds of fentanyl pills that were stuffed inside the burritos at an immigration checkpoint near Palo Verde, Calif., US Customs and Border Protection officials said.
The canine alerted its handler to pull a Chevy Tahoe over into the secondary inspection area. When the SUV pulled over, the canine led agents to a black backpack containing the laced burritos, according to a press release.
The 37-year-old driver of the car was arrested. He is a legal US resident, border agents said.
“Smugglers are under the false assumption that they can disguise drugs within food to throw off canines and their handlers,” Border Patrol said in a press release.
“On the contrary, canines have the ability to detect a target odor among a myriad of other odors,” they added.
The fentanyl had a street value of nearly $60,000, officials said. Just two millionths of a gram of the narcotic can be fatal, according to drug enforcement authorities.
