Feds: Alleged drug smuggler, 16, tried to move meth across the border with a remote-control car

A 16-year-old American citizen was arrested by federal authorities for allegedly trying to smuggle methamphetamine across the southern U.S. border with a remote-control car, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

A Tuesday press release from CBP's offices in San Diego says that, over the weekend, a Border Patrol agent saw someone with two duffle bags walking along a section of border wall and "ducking in and out" of view and called for more agents to respond to the area.

One of the agents found the suspect hiding in some brush near the border with a remote-control car and two duffle bags. Upon searching the bags, authorities found 50 packages of meth with an estimated street value of over $100,000.

A tweet from CBP San Diego says that the youth now faces felony charges.

San Diego sector Chief Patrol Agent Douglas Harrison stated, “I am extremely proud of the agents’ heightened vigilance and hard work in stopping this unusual smuggling scheme.”

While the specifics may sound unusual, this wouldn't be the first time that a drug smuggler tried to use remote-control technology to move drugs across the border. In January 2018, a man who tried to bring narcotics over the border into the United States was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Earlier that same month, the National Border Patrol Council noted an "astronomical" problem of drug cartels using drones to move drugs over the border.

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