Fleeing smugglers left 280 pounds of drugs behind at Canadian border, agents say

U.S. Border Patrol agents in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, responded to a remote forest service road where two people were acting suspiciously, according to a release from the agency.

When the people spotted the agent, the release says, they fled back over the border and left their cargo behind. An agent found several duffel bags “near the location the individuals were hiding,” the release said.

Inside the bags were 84 pounds of cocaine and 198 pounds of meth, according to the release, estimated to be worth $2.1 million.

A dark-colored Range Rover “observed leaving the area of the smuggling event” was stopped by Idaho State Police on Highway 95 and the driver was taken “into custody in connection with the narcotics smuggling,” according to the release.

The people accused of fleeing near the U.S.-Canadian border were caught by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the release said. Authorities did not release the identity of any of the suspects.

Border Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration are investigating, according to the release.

“Cocaine and Methamphetamine are ravaging our communities,” David BeMiller, acting chief patrol agent, said in the release. “Border Patrol agents are committed to preventing dangerous drugs and associated crime from destroying families and communities on both sides of the border.”