TUCSON, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested six Mexican nationals and two U.S. citizens recently involved in multiple smuggling attempts to sneak cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine through the Port of Nogales.

a combination of cocaine, heroin and
meth from within a VW sedan
On Sept. 22, officers working with a CBP narcotics-detection canine at the Dennis DeConcini crossing seized $346,600 worth of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine from a 22-year-old man from Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, after finding the drugs in his Volkswagen sedan.
Later at the DeConcini crossing, officers working with a canine located $55,000 worth of cocaine and meth in a Ford SUV driven by a 40-year-old man from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.
At about the same time, officers at the Mariposa crossing referred a Jeep SUV for a secondary inspection but found no drugs inside the vehicle. However, officers did discover the 19-year-old male driver and his 22-year-old female passenger, both from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, were hiding more than 3 pounds of meth under their clothing. Officers estimate the meth to be worth more than $9,000.
On Sept. 21, officers at the Morley pedestrian crossing searched a 22-year-old woman from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, and found more than $3,000 worth of meth (just over a pound) in the crotch of her clothing.

removed a combination of heroin and
meth from a smuggling vehicle
Also on Sept. 21, a narcotics canine at the DeConcini crossing alerted officers to a Buick sedan driven by a 19-year-old man from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Inside the vehicle, officers found $15,000 worth of meth, weighing nearly five pounds.
Officers working at the Morley pedestrian crossing Sept. 20 stopped a 25-year-old Phoenix woman with nearly a pound of meth, worth $2,900, within an unspecified body cavity. At about the same time, officers at the DeConcini crossing referred a 27-year-old Nogales, Arizona woman for further inspection of her Ford van and found $364,000 worth of heroin and meth, with a combined weight of nearly 50 pounds.
In all, officers seized the vehicles and turned all individuals over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.