TUCSON, Ariz. –U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of Nogales arrested 3 Mexican nationals involved in connection with separate failed attempts to smuggle a combination of heroin and methamphetamine into the United States over the weekend worth more than $678,000.
CBP officers at the Dennis DeConcini Crossing referred a 44-year-old Nogales, Sonora, Mexico man for further inspection of his Chevrolet sedan Friday. A CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to a scent it was trained to detect within the vehicle’s rocker panels. Officers removed more than a dozen packages that were identified as almost 26 pounds of meth, worth nearly $78,000.
Later that night, officers at the DeConcini Crossing referred a 38-year-old Nogales, Sonora, Mexico man for an additional search of his Ford truck. Following an alert by a CBP canine, officers removed from the vehicle’s heater coil. The drugs were identified as nearly 21 pounds of meth, worth almost $63,000 as well as nearly 18 pounds of heroin, worth more than $481,000.
and heroin from the smuggling
vehicle's heater cool
Sunday evening, officers at the DeConcini Crossing referred a 33-year-old Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, man for a further search of his Honda sedan. A CBP canine alert to the dashboard, led officers to discover and remove more than a dozen packages of drugs. The seizure was identified as nearly 19 pounds of meth, worth nearly $57,000.
Officers seized the drugs as well as the vehicles. The subjects were arrested and then turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.