TUCSON, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a Mexican national and a U.S. citizen on Oct. 3, during separate attempts to smuggle more than 44 pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine combined through the Port of Nogales.
CBP officers at the DeConcini crossing seized $248,000 worth of cocaine and meth from inside of a smuggling vehicle.
CBP officers at the Dennis DeConcini crossing were conducting a secondary inspection of a Pontiac sedan, driven by a 66-year-old SENTRI program member from Nogales, Arizona, when a CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to a hidden compartment under the front seats. Officers then removed eight packages of cocaine weighing more than 31 pounds and worth in excess of $214,000. They removed 10 other packages of meth weighing more than 11 pounds and worth more than $34,000. The subject’s SENTRI document was revoked and he is now a SENTRI violator.
A short time later at the same crossing, officers referred a 23-year-old man from Mexicali, Sonora, Mexico for further inspection of his Chevrolet sedan. Again, a CBP canine alerted officers to drugs. This time it was more than 12 pounds of meth, worth approximately $37,000, in non-factory compartments within the vehicle’s rocker panels.
Officer processed the vehicles and drugs for seizure, and referred both subjects to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.