TUCSON, Ariz. – Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested three suspects and seized narcotics worth approximately $263,700 at the I-19 checkpoint over the weekend.
On Feb. 6, a canine at the I-19 checkpoint assisted agents in the discovery of $35,000 worth of marijuana hidden inside a vehicle’s ceiling. Agents arrested the driver and seized the marijuana.
Border Patrol agents at the Interstate 19 traffic checkpoint seized $35,000 worth of marijuana from the headliner of smuggling vehicle.
The next day, agents at the checkpoint referred a vehicle with two occupants for a secondary inspection after a canine alert. As a result, agents discovered 20 packages of methamphetamine, three packages of heroin, and two packages of cocaine concealed in the vehicle’s trunk compartment. Agents arrested the male Mexican national driver and the female United States citizen passenger.
Immigration checkpoints are an effective and essential component of the Border Patrol’s border enforcement strategy. These checkpoints are critical to our patrol efforts, as they deny major routes of egress from the border region to smugglers intent on delivering people, drugs, and other contraband into the interior of the United States. The Border Patrol carefully selects checkpoint locations to maximize border enforcement and continuously evaluates our operations to ensure they are effective and do not pose an undo impact to law abiding citizens.
Agents continue to diligently protect and secure America’s borders by accomplishing the mission within the context of the Fourth Amendment, the U.S. search and seizure laws, and the judicial decisions that regulate checkpoint operations, including section 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 USC § 1357), and United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, among others.
The drugs were seized in accordance with Tucson Sector guidelines, and all subjects were presented for prosecution.