How Do Drugs Get Into The US? $150K Of Meth Hidden In Teen's Car Found By Border Patrol

A 19-year-old was arrested by Customs and Border Patrol agents Sunday after they discovered his vehicle was stuffed with bundles of hidden methamphetamine. The federal agency seized more than $150,000 worth of meth secretly placed within the car’s engine, before turning the evidence and teenager over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The recent drug bust was just the latest indication of a crackdown along the U.S.-Mexico border of all illegal trafficking operations under President Donald Trump's new White House administration. The Sunday night arrest occurred after the 19-year-old was stopped multiple times for inspection near the southern border in Pine Valley, California.

Read: Is The Border Safe? Armed Militia Leader Hunting Undocumented Immigrants Is Excited For Trump

Meanwhile, border crossing rates dropped by nearly 40 percent during Trump’s first full month in office February – a time of year when the figure typically surges as migrants make the trek across the southern border. Trump's Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly hailed the "unprecedented decline in traffic" as a signal "that enforcement matters, deterrence matters, and that comprehensive immigration enforcement can make an impact."

Federal agents collected roughly 47 pounds in methamphetamine totaling $159,256 from the teen’s vehicle at about 9 p.m. local time Sunday, Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.

"A nearby K-9 alerted to the man’s vehicle," the agency said Monday. "A search of the Armada revealed a non-factory compartment behind the front firewall on the passenger side of the vehicle. Inside were 46 bundles of methamphetamine."

Drug busts by federal agencies along the border have also been in decline, though the trend has been ongoing well before Trump’s presidency. The amount of drugs seized at the border plummeted from over 2.5 million pounds in 2011 to more than 1.5 million in 2015, according to figures Customs and Border Protection published last year.