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  4. CBP Officers in Nogales, Ariz. Seize Drugs at Port

CBP Officers in Nogales, Ariz. Seize Drugs at Port

Release Date
Wed, 05/29/2013

Nogales, Ariz. - Two Mexican men were arrested Saturday at the Mariposa, Ariz. port of entry in connection with separate failed attempts to smuggle narcotics.

Joel Amador-De Los Santos, 33, was arrested after a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer discovered 10 packages of methamphetamine, weighing nearly 13 pounds, in the gas tank of his Chevrolet truck. The estimated value of the seizure was more than $198,000.

Jose Nicolas Plascencia-Gonzalez, 51, was arrested after a CBP service canine alerted to the dashboard of his Honda sedan where officers located 14 packages of narcotics. The drugs consisted of nearly 14 pounds of methamphetamine, more than two pounds of heroin, and more than five pounds of cocaine. The drugs' combined values exceed $291,000.

In both incidents, the drugs and vehicles were seized. Amador and Plascencia were referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations.

CBP's Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Homeland Security tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation's ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.

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.
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