Teen caught smuggling 200 pounds of meth on Christmas Eve, border agents say

A 16-year-old boy was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers after finding over 200 pounds of methamphetamine inside his car on Christmas Eve, according to a press release.

A CBP canine alerted authorities to the teen’s 2012 Ford Focus when he was trying to pass through California’s Calexico West port of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border. Officers then used their imaging system to do another screen of the car and found irregularities with the car’s “doors, back seat, quarter panels, rocker panels, and spare tire.”

Officers discovered 205 packages of meth weighing 220 pounds and with a street value of around $264,444.

The boy was arrested on suspicion of smuggling the narcotics and was turned over to Homeland Security. The U.S. citizen, who’s name was not released, is being held at Imperial County Juvenile Detention Center, according to the release.

In November, another teen was caught trying to evade border patrol agents by smuggling meth in a toy car, U.S. Border Patrol said.

That 16-year-old used a toy car to send 56 pounds of meth worth $106,000 across the border, agents said.