U.S. Border Patrol agents pulled 962 pounds of liquid methamphetamine from a semi-truck's fuel tanks after a traffic stop on Interstate 15 in Temecula.

The seizure, worth an estimated $1 million, happened at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29, when agents stopped a northbound semi-truck traveling without a trailer. The stop occurred roughly a quarter-mile north of the California Highway Patrol scales on I-15, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection press release.

A K-9 named Loki, assigned to the Newton-Azrak Border Patrol Station in Murrieta, alerted agents to the drug concealed inside at least one of the truck's fuel tanks. Agents transported the driver and vehicle to the Murrieta station, where hazardous response specialists extracted approximately 115 gallons of liquid methamphetamine.

The driver, identified only as a Mexican national, was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations and local authorities for state prosecution. Federal agents seized the semi-truck. As of Monday, Oct. 12, the suspect had not been publicly identified, and the investigation was continuing, CBS Los Angeles reported.

U.S. Border Patrol did not announce the seizure until Thursday, Oct. 8, ten days after the stop.

Justin De La Torre, chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector, said in a statement that the seizure shows the lengths transnational criminal organizations will go to smuggle narcotics into local communities. He called the work of agents, K-9 units and multi-agency partnerships vital to dismantling smuggling operations.

The Newton-Azrak station oversees a 3,800-square-mile stretch of Riverside County that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has identified as a major inland route for narcotics trafficking. The corridor has seen similar busts. In April 2025, Newton-Azrak agents seized 761 pounds of liquid meth from a tractor-trailer on I-215 near Murrieta, the Times of San Diego reported. In March 2026, federal agents at the Otay Mesa commercial crossing found 944 pounds of liquid meth inside a semi-truck's diesel tank, NBC 7 San Diego reported, as cited by Hoodline.

Anyone with information about suspicious smuggling activity can contact the U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector at (619) 498-9900.