U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents see plenty of questionable cars driving all over the country. According to the agency, in Fiscal Year 2024 alone, the group uncovered 418,000 lbs. of drugs total, including substances seized from vehicles. In November, CBP agents pulled over a car headed northbound on I-5 in San Diego. While they’ve sure seen some doozies, this one still managed to turn heads.

The stop happened around 7 p.m. when agents from the San Clemente Border Patrol Station leaned on a trained canine to check the car

The dog perked up. Agents popped open the rear storage area and found two child booster seats that felt heavier than any parent would expect.

Inside those seats sat 11 tightly wrapped packages

Agents reported in a press release that the driver, a Mexican national, was taken into custody along with the car and the suspected drugs.

The booster seats went along for the ride too, although for very different reasons than their designers intended.

Tests revealed the haul as a mixed narcotics load

Seven packages contained more than 16 lbs. of fentanyl with an estimated value of about $138,700. Two more packages held nearly five pounds of cocaine worth close to $42,000. The last pair carried just over a pound of heroin valued at around $11,400.

The driver will face charges tied to the sale and importation of controlled substances.

San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Justin De La Torre explained that hiding fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin in child seats underscores the reach and ruthlessness of the criminal networks his agents confront daily.

He added that the seizure reflects the agency’s commitment to blocking dangerous drugs before they spread into American communities.

Smugglers pick booster seats for the same reason a thief picks a boring sedan

People rarely give them a second look. Parents haul them around without thinking, and border agents see plenty of them in cars. That makes them the perfect decoy until a dog notices something that shouldn’t be there.