TUCSON – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Mariposa Commercial Facility in Nogales arrested a tractor-trailer driver Tuesday after discovering 6,500 pounds of marijuana in a shipment of strawberry jam.
P officers working with a narcotics-detection canine discovered the marijuana, worth an estimated $3.25 million, and arrested the 51-year-old male driver from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.
Officers seized the drugs, vehicle and commodity, and turned the subject over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
This marijuana load is the 15th largest seized by officers from CBP’s Tucson Field Office. Officers at the Mariposa Facility seized 10,000 pounds of marijuana earlier this month – the 8th largest and worth $5 million – found in a shipment labeled as vacuum pump parts.
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.
