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  4. CBP Officers Seize $202K Worth of Meth, Arrest 3

CBP Officers Seize $202K Worth of Meth, Arrest 3

Release Date
Fri, 09/11/2015
An oxygen cylinder within a smuggling vehicle was found to contain 39 pounds of meth, by CBP officers.

An oxygen cylinder within a smuggling vehicle was found to contain 39 pounds of meth, by CBP officers.

TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Port of San Luis arrested a 57-year-old Yuma man and two Mexican nationals involved in separate attempts to allegedly smuggle more than 67 pounds of methamphetamine Sept. 9.

Officers referred Agustin Dimas, of Yuma, for a secondary inspection of his Dodge truck. After a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted to an oxygen cylinder tank in Dimas’ truck, officers found 39 pounds of meth valued at nearly $117,000.

39 pounds of meth found within an oxygen cylinder

A drug smuggler attempted to conceal 39 pounds of meth within an oxygen cylinder inside of his truck bed.

Officers later referred 51-year-old Gustavo Origel-Valencia, a legal resident alien living in Gadsden, Arizona, for an additional search of his Buick sedan. Following a positive alert by a narcotics-detection canine, officers discovered and removed seven pounds of meth, worth more than $21,000, from to the car’s oil pan.

That afternoon, officers referred Jessica Velazquez-Sanchez, 32, of San Luis, Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico, for secondary inspection of her Nissan sedan and discovered packages of meth, weighing more than 21 pounds and worth nearly $64,000, in the vehicle’s rocker panel.

Officers seized all drugs and vehicles, arrested and referred the suspects to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

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.

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021