Mother arrested in Riverside County with 5 pounds of heroin in diaper bag

A woman driving with her 5-year-old daughter was arrested at an immigration checkpoint in Temecula this week after Border Patrol agents discovered more than 5 pounds of heroin in a diaper bag, authorities said.

The suspect was driving north on the 15 Freeway in a black Ford pickup truck when she was stopped at the checkpoint on Tuesday evening, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. Agents searched her vehicle and found the pink diaper bag adorned with rainbows.

Inside the bag, they found the heroin with an estimated street value of nearly $70,000, authorities said.

“Drug trafficking organizations will go to great lengths to smuggle their dangerous cargo through the United States, even when it means endangering the lives of young children,” Chief Patrol Agent Patricia D. McGurk-Daniel said in a statement. “I commend our agents’ vigilance and commitment to keep our communities safe from these lethal drugs.”

The case was turned over to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. The woman, who was not immediately identified by border agents, had a previous narcotics smuggling conviction.

The 5-year-old “was transferred into the custody of an appropriate party,” agents said.

Although the woman was arrested by Border Patrol agents, it is not clear whether she had smuggled the drugs across the Mexican border.

On occasion, Border Patrol agents in California have discovered women with children smuggling drugs into the state.

In 2018, a 34-year-old woman was arrested coming into California from Mexico with her five children in the car when agents found 231 pounds of hidden drugs throughout her Honda Odyssey.