Deputies arrest juvenile, seize nearly 700 pounds of marijuana

TUCSON, Ariz. – Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies participating in Operation Stonegarden, along with Border Patrol agents, responded to a vehicle rollover report Saturday evening east of Nogales and found an abandoned Montero with 36 bundles of marijuana.

The lead deputy took custody of the vehicle and its load of approximately 700 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $350,000.

Later that evening, Nogales Border Patrol camera operators reported an individual walking along Duquesne Road approximately 2 miles from the crash site. When agents responded to question the male subject, he attempted to escape by running into the desert.

Agents quickly apprehended the subject, later identified as a 14-year-old U.S. citizen who had been driving the vehicle when it crashed. A sheriff’s deputy returned to the area and took custody of the juvenile.

Operation Stonegarden is a Department of Homeland Security program that grants funds to other local, state and tribal law enforcement agencies to enhance and strengthen border security throughout the United States.