Trial for alleged Oxy importer

A woman charged with importing 47,340 tablets of oxycodone in Otay Mesa will stand trial on Monday, Aug. 14.

The March 8 seizure of the addictive painkiller drug is the largest in five years at the Southwest Border, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. The drugs were valued at $1.42 million.

Adriana Morfin-Paniagua, 22, is a U.S. citizen who lives in Tijuana. She was arrested March 9 after she drove a 1999 Honda Accord through the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. The drugs were found in a secondary inspection in 30 packages hidden inside a non-factory compartment.

The tablets have an illegal street value of $30-40 per tablet, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. The tablets were forensically tested in a Drug Enforcement Administration laboratory to confirm they were oxycodone.

Morfin-Paniagua, who is the only person charged, has posted $30,000 bond and remains free.  She has pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in San Diego.