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  4. Nogales CBP Officers Seize $1.37MK in Drugs

Nogales CBP Officers Seize $1.37MK in Drugs

Release Date
Thu, 12/06/2018

TUCSON, Ariz. –U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of Nogales arrested 2 Arizona residents connected with separate failed attempts to smuggle fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States on Wednesday.

CBP officers at the Dennis DeConcini Crossing referred a 52-year-old Green Valley, Arizona man for further inspection of his Dodge truck early Wednesday morning. A CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to a scent it was trained to detect within the truck’s bed. Officers removed nearly 70 packages of drugs identified as more than 49 pounds of meth, worth more than $148,000; almost 43 pounds of heroin, worth more than $1.15M and .25 pound of fentanyl, worth more than $3,400.

Officers removed a combination of meth, heroin and fentanyl from beneath a bedliner removed from a Dodge truck
Officers removed a combination of
meth, heroin and fentanyl from
beneath a bedliner removed from a
Dodge truck

A short time later, officers referred a 35-year-old Mesa, Arizona resident for a further search of a Ford truck. Following a positive alert by a CBP canine to the back seats and spare tire, officers removed nearly 129 pounds of marijuana, worth nearly $65,000.

packages of marijuana were removed from behind the seats of a smuggling vehicle
Officers removed packages of
marijuana from inside
of a smuggling vehicle

Officers seized the drugs and vehicles, while both subjects were arrested and then turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with securing the borders of the United States while enforcing hundreds of laws and facilitating lawful trade and travel.

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021