CBP Officers Stop $1.9M in Drugs at Nogales Border

TUCSON, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a Mexican national and three U.S. citizens involved in separate weekend attempts to smuggle heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine through the Dennis DeConcini crossing in Nogales, Arizona.

Officers referred a 27-year-old man from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, for a secondary inspection of his Hyundai SUV on Sept. 9. After a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted to the vehicle’s rear cargo area, officers found close to 160 pounds of cocaine, worth nearly $1.8 million.  

Earlier on Sept. 9, a CBP canine helped officers locate more than 17 pounds of meth, valued in excess of $52,000, in the front wheel wells of a Dodge van driven by a 36-year-old man from Nogales, Arizona.

A third seizure Friday at the DeConcini pedestrian crossing involved a 16-year-old female from Nogales, Arizona, with almost 3 pounds of heroin, worth nearly $48,000, in her undergarments.

On Sept. 10, officers at the DeConcini pedestrian lanes referred a 32-year-old woman from Casa Grande, Arizona, for further inspection and discovered almost half-a-pound of meth in her underwear. Officers estimated the drugs to be worth more than $1,300.

Officers seized all drugs and vehicles used in the smuggling attempts, and turned the subjects over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.