Yuma, Ariz. - Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents seized approximately 47 pounds of marijuana following a smuggling attempt at the Salinity canal last night.
Agents assigned to the Yuma Station were patrolling near County 12th Street and Levee Road when they seized the marijuana that two individuals attempted to smuggle into the U.S. The two subjects left the marijuana, with an estimated value of $23,400, in two suitcases after swimming across the Salinity canal.
Abandoned narcotics are a direct result of the Border Patrol's increased efforts to disrupt and deny transnational criminal organizations from operating in the Yuma. Smugglers will often abandon their drug loads rather than risk apprehension and face prosecution.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.