TUCSON – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested three people involved in separate weekend attempts to smuggle a combined $565,000 worth of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine through the Port of Nogales.
Officers at the Mariposa crossing referred a 53-year-old man from Sapopan, Jalisco, Mexico, for a secondary inspection of his Volkswagen sedan Dec. 2. After officers found 5 pounds of cocaine worth almost $60,000, as well as 4 pounds of heroin valued at $75,000, in the dashboard.
Officers working with CBP canines made two seizures on Dec. 4, beginning with nearly 30 pounds of cocaine, worth approximately $300,000, and nearly 8 pounds of methamphetamine, worth $20,000, seized from a 27-year-old man from Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico, when he attempted to enter through the Mariposa crossing in a Honda van.
A short time later, officers seized nearly 30 pounds of methamphetamine, worth more than $80,000, and nearly 3 pounds of cocaine, worth $30,000, from a 23-year-old man residing in Nogales, Arizona, as a Permanent Resident Alien. He was stopped at the Dennis DeConcini crossing driving a Volkswagen sedan.
Officers seized all drugs and vehicles used in the smuggling attempts, and turned the subjects 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.
