Tucson, Ariz. - Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents have seized more than 2,300 pounds of marijuana in several services in the last 72 hours.
Highlights included agents seizing 522 bricks of marijuana on Saturday weighing approximately 700 pounds. Casa Grande agents discovered the $560,000 worth of marijuana after they stopped three suspicious vehicles that were traveling in tandem. The drivers and vehicles were taken into custody.
In a separate incident Monday, a Border Patrol canine team assigned to the Ajo Station stopped a truck that had earlier evaded Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers. The driver of the truck immediately bailed from the vehicle and absconded into the surrounding desert. Agents discovered 59 bundles of marijuana left behind in the truck. The marijuana weighs more than 1,000 pounds and has an estimated value of nearly $870,000. The truck and its illegal cargo were taken to the Ajo Station for processing.
"These seizures exemplify the vigilance and dedication to duty of our agents," said Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Raleigh Leonard. "Every day, southern Arizona law enforcement officers are working together to reduce border related crime and protect our way of life."
The Border Patrol continues to use coordinated enforcement operations and partnerships with other agencies to detect, apprehend and deter smugglers of humans, drugs and other contraband into our nation. In the first four months of Fiscal Year 2010 (October through January), agents seized more than 350,000 pounds of marijuana with an estimated value exceeding $287 million. During the same time last year, the Tucson Sector Border Patrol seized 341,000 pounds of marijuana. These seizures put the Tucson Sector on track to meet or exceed last year's record of 1.2 million pounds seized.