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An undercover drug operation in Washington resulted in the arrest of a San Diego man, the seizure of 315 pounds of methamphetamine and thousands of dollars in cash, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle announced Tuesday.

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Adrian Perez, 41, was arrested last Tuesday as a result of a yearlong investigation into drug smuggling from San Diego to Canada, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

“Drug trafficking organizations use the I-5 corridor to ship large quantities of their poisons into our communities — from San Diego to Bellingham and beyond,” U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes said. “We work closely with our international, federal, state and local counterparts to identify those involved and disrupt their efforts.”

According to the court records, in April 2017, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Homeland Security Investigations started investigating a Canadian drug smuggling ring that was trafficking drugs from San Diego into Canada. Last month, agents went undercover posing as couriers with 18 kilograms of cocaine to sell. A member of the smuggling ring agreed to meet with the agents on March 13 at a Seattle parking lot to secure the sell.

Perez then showed up and took possession of the drug, prosecutors said. He was then arrested by HSI. The next day, the Seattle Police Department searched his rental home and found three large duffle bags with 150 pounds of meth and $4,000 in cash, prosecutors said. Authorities also found an additional 165 pounds of meth inside the car Perez was driving, prosecutors said.

The street value of the drugs seized was in the “millions of dollars,” USAO spokeswoman Emily Langlie told Times of San Diego.

“Three hundred pounds of meth and 18 kilos of cocaine can have devastating effects on a community, and the quick action of HSI and the Seattle Police Department thwarted that from happening,” HSI agent Brad Bench said.

Meth is the second most common drug overdoses in the U.S., authorities said.

Because of the amount of drugs allegedly found on Perez’s possession, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison if convicted.

San Diego Man Arrested, 315 Pounds of Meth Seized in Seattle Drug Bust was last modified: by

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