U.S. border agents arrested an 83-year-old U.S. citizen on Thursday as she entered California across the Mexican border on drug charges. Officials report that she is being held for suspicion of smuggling 10 pounds of methamphetamine found strapped to her body.

The woman, a retiree, along with two Mexican nationals were stopped in their car at a U.S. border crossing in San Ysidro, California, just north of Tijuana, Mexico.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Angelica De Cima, the methamphetamines were found strapped to the elderly woman and a 40-year-old Mexican woman. The driver of the automobile, a 22-year-old Mexican man, was also arrested.

In a telephone interview conducted by Reuters, De Cima explained, "It's very unusual for us to arrest such an elderly smuggler, but it's not unique. We are catching more drugs at the port and so the Mexican cartels are using more creative techniques to try and get away with it."

The ingredients used to manufacture the stimulant Methamphetamine are highly regulated in the U.S. The drug is therefore prepared in large quantities in Tijuana and smuggled north to California.

De Cima remarked that the frequency of drug seizures, especially methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin, had increased by 25 percent at the San Ysidro crossing along in the past year.