TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Port of Nogales arrested three people during long the 4th of July weekend for attempting to smuggle weapons and a combined 102 pounds of hard drugs worth approximately $830,000.
Officers working the outbound lane at the Dennis DeConcini crossing Friday referred a 19-year-old Casa Grande man for further search of the Dodge sedan he was driving and found two AR-15 rifles and magazines hidden in a trash bag.
On Saturday, officers at the Mariposa crossing referred a 51-year-old woman from Sinaloa, Mexico, for an additional search of her Kia SUV. Using a CBP narcotics-detection canine, officers located close to $358,000 worth of meth, cocaine and heroin concealed in the vehicle’s floor.
Officers working at the DeConcini crossing Sunday with a narcotics-detection canine referred a 30-year-old woman from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, for a secondary inspection of a Honda sedan she was driving. That search turned up more than 27 pounds of heroin, worth close to $471,000, in the vehicle’s rocker panels.
Officers seized the vehicles and contraband, and turned the suspects over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Federal law allows officers to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows for filing of charges for criminal activity without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
CBP's Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Homeland Security tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.