TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested two Southern California residents connected to separate failed smuggling attempts this past Friday resulting in the seizure of more than $439,000 worth of methamphetamine at Arizona’s Port of San Luis.
Officers referred a 37-year-old Legal Permanent Resident Alien from La Fuente, California, for additional questioning as she attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico Friday afternoon in a Honda van. After an alert by a CBP canine to a scent it is trained to detect, officers removed approximately 57 pounds of meth, worth more than $172,000 from inside the vehicle’s roof and quarter panels.
and quarter panels of a smuggling
vehicle
Later that evening, officers referred a 36-year-old U.S. Citizen, also from La Fuente, California, further inspection of his GMC SUV as he attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico. Following a CBP canine alert, officers removed more than 100 packages of meth from the quarter panels. The drugs weighed more than 89 pounds and are worth just more than $268,000.
from within the cab of a smuggling
vehicle
CBP officers seized the drugs and vehicles. Both subjects were arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.