Border inspectors in Calif smell something fishy, find 700 pounds of pot in sea bass container

Calif border inspectors find pot in fish container

SAN DIEGO — A U.S. border inspector suspected something fishy about the truckload of white sea bass headed into San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico. It was a good hunch.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Friday that authorities seized 708 pounds of marijuana stowed under the fish.

An officer at the Otay Mesa border crossing ordered the truck driver aside Thursday night to put the cargo under X-rays. Authorities said they found 29 wrapped packages of marijuana hidden beneath the fish and a layer of ice.

The driver was a 34-year-old man from Ensenada, Mexico, whose name was not released. He was booked into a downtown San Diego jail for investigation of drug smuggling.