TUCSON, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a male U.S. citizen early Saturday after finding nearly 73 pounds of methamphetamine in his vehicle during a secondary inspection at Arizona’s Port of San Luis.
Officers located multiple bricks of meth, exceeding $218,000 in value, after a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted to the trunk of a Toyota Camry driven by a 46-year-old man residing in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico.
CBP officers arrested the man for narcotics smuggling and seized the vehicle and drugs. The man was turned 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 the 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.