Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

  • Archived Content
    In an effort to keep CBP.gov current, the archive contains content from a previous administration or is otherwise outdated.
  1. Home
  2. Newsroom
  3. Local Media Release
  4. Nogales CBP Officers Seize $255K Worth of Heroin

Nogales CBP Officers Seize $255K Worth of Heroin

Release Date
Mon, 09/29/2014

TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a man from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico after a failed attempt to smuggle more than 18 pounds of heroin through the Port of Nogales on the afternoon of Sept. 28.

Packages of heroin are hidden underneath the back seats of a smuggling vehicle that was stopped by CBP officers on Saturday.

Packages of heroin are hidden underneath the back seats of a smuggling vehicle that was stopped by CBP officers on Saturday.

CBP officers working at the Dennis DeConcini crossing referred a BMW sedan driven by Victor Adan Esparza-Arballo, 24, for a secondary inspection. A narcotics detection canine alerted to the heroin hidden under the back seat. The drugs have an estimated value of nearly $255,000.

Officers processed the vehicle and drugs for seizure, and referred Esparza to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021