Man arrested in OC after attempting to smuggle $500K of cocaine while traveling with wife, infant

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (KABC) -- A man was arrested in San Clemente after attempting to smuggle about half-a-million-dollars' worth of cocaine while traveling with his wife and infant son.

Agents with the U.S. Border Patrol stopped a driver on Thursday who was spotted driving erratically on the 5 Freeway. After searching the car, agents discovered 20 brick-shaped packaged of cocaine with an estimated value of $512,500.

An additional package of drugs was found inside a shopping bag near the infant's car seat.

"While the driver was being questioned, his wife indicated she needed to use the restroom and she went into the shopping center with her infant. They did not return and agents later located them a quarter mile away," the agency said in a press release.

The driver, a 34-year-old U.S. citizen, was turned over to Drug Enforcement Administration custody in Orange County. The mother and baby were later released.