Blythe, Calif. - U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Yuma sector seized more than $250,000 in marijuana and arrested a suspected drug smuggler at the checkpoint on Highway 78 near Palo Verde on Thursday.

At about 5:30 p.m., Border Patrol agents assigned to the Blythe station encountered a white semi-tractor trailer at the checkpoint. A Border Patrol canine team alerted to the semi, indicating the likely presence of concealed illicit contraband.

click for hi-res Blythe station Border Patrol agents found 112 plastic-wrapped bundles hidden beneath the sleeper bed of a semi-tractor trailer at the Highway 78 checkpoint near Palo Verde, Calif. on Thursday.

Agents referred the tractor trailer for secondary inspection where they uncovered 112 plastic-wrapped bundles of marijuana hidden beneath the sleeper bed in the cab of the truck. The driver, a 54-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested.

The packages of marijuana weighed a combined 322 pounds with an estimated street value of $257,600.

The driver, semi and narcotics were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

To report suspicious activity, contact the Yuma sector Border Patrols toll free telephone number at 1-866-999-8727.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

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