CAMP PENDLETON - Border Patrol agents seized more than 16 pounds of methamphetamine in three separate stops at the checkpoint on Interstate 5 near Camp Pendleton, officials with the federal agency said today.

In the first of the three incidents on Thursday morning, Feb. 28 about 8 a.m., dogs sniffed out a piece of a luggage belonging to a 23-year-old U.S. citizen who was a bus passenger, according to the Border Patrol. Agents searched it and found two packages full of more than four pounds of the drug, worth an estimated street value of $81,000.

About an hour later, agents questioned a 37-year-old Advertisement

[ Berry-Bell and Hall Mortuary ] Mexican citizen aboard a commuter van who Border Patrol officials said was displaying nervous behavior. Agents searched him and found more than seven pounds of methamphetamine, worth about $145,000, in three packages attached to his lower back and thighs, Border Patrol officials said.

Around 10 a.m. Thursday, dogs inspecting another passenger bus alerted agents to the luggage of a 45-year-old U.S. citizen. Agents searched the luggage and found four packages of methamphetamine weighing just over five pounds and worth more than $100,000, authorities said.

All three people along with the drugs were turned to over the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Border Patrol said.