TUCSON, AZ – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a 27-year-old female U.S. citizen, presently living in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, for attempting to smuggle more than 200 pounds of marijuana through the Raul Hector Castro Port of Douglas.
Officers arrested the woman yesterday after a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted to the front hood and rear cargo area of the Kia SUV she was driving.
Officers seized the drugs, worth an estimated $109,000, and vehicle. The woman was turned over to 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.
