Nogales CBP Officers Apprehend Two People in Separate Failed Hard Drug Smuggling Attempts

TUCSON, Ariz. –U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of Nogales apprehended two people involved in separate failed attempts to smuggle more than 29 pounds of cocaine and heroin into the United States March 1.

Officers working at the Dennis DeConcini Crossing Thursday morning referred a 37-year-old woman for further inspection of her Ford Mustang. A CBP canine alerted officers to almost 27 pounds of cocaine, worth in excess of $301,000 in one of the vehicle’s rear quarter panels.

Later that morning, officers at the pedestrian lanes of the Mariposa Crossing referred a 40-year-old man for secondary inspection where a CBP canine alerted to an odor it was trained to detect, leading officers to discover more than 2 pounds of heroin, worth more than $7,300, within one of the subjects’ shoes.

Officers seized the drugs and vehicle, and turned both subjects over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.