TIJUANA – The military showed off the fruits of its latest drug operations: $20,000 in currency taped to a man's body and a blue Hummer H2, among other seizures.

In what's become a familiar exercise, the commander of Mexico's Second Military Zone, Gilberto Landeros, presented for the news media Tuesday drugs seized in various operations. He reiterated that no single cartel controls smuggling on this part of the border.

"More than a single criminal organization, various cells are operating here," he said.

As proof, he said that the army detained on Monday a man at Tijuana's international airport who arrived on a Volaris flight from Acapulco, in Guerrero state.

He said the man arrested was a "burrero," who transported drugs for organized crime groups. He allegedly was carrying 4.4 pounds of cocaine in a suitcase with a false bottom.

Another man, this time from Jalisco, was arrested Monday in the baggage claim area, also at Tijuana's airport, after authorities found currency taped to his body (abdomen, calves and in his shoes): 100,000 in Mexican pesos (about $8,000) and $12,000 in U.S. dollars.

In another operation, which grew out of an anonymous tip, the army seized 97 packages of marijuana, which weighed a total of 554.4 pounds; 11 envelopes with about 705 grams of cocaine, and six vehicles.

That seizure was made at a house in the Tijuana southside neighborhood of Chula Vista. Landeros said that it's possible the house was used to store drugs since soldiers did not find weapons nor were the eight people detained armed.

Among the vehicles confiscated were a Hummer H2, a Jetta 2008 and a Mustang 2005, all with Mexican plates.

The commander also announced that a military ground patrol found marijuana fields covering 2.1 acres in the Valle de la Trinidad, south of Ensenada. He said the fields were incinerated.

"We continue to work based on the tips we receive from citizens," he said.

Landeros stressed that the drugs that were seized came from various Mexican states and different criminal organizations.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com