Two women arrested at Border Patrol checkpoint

Two women were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in separate smuggling attempts within an hour from each other Saturday afternoon at the Highway 86 checkpoint.

Agents say the first incident happened at 12:30 p.m. when a 33-year-old woman, who is a Mexican national, drove up to the checkpoint in a 2004 Ford Fusion. The woman was sent to secondary inspection after her car was alerted by a K-9 officer.

Agents were able to find 35 packages of methamphetamine hidden in the front and back seats of the car during the search.

The second incident happened about an hour later, when a 58-year-old woman also drove up to the checkpoint.

Agents say the woman was in a 2002 Ford Windstar and was also alerted by a K-9 officer.

The woman was sent to secondary inspection where agents found three packages of heroin and two packages of meth hidden inside the rear seat of the mini-van.

The drugs had a combined weight of less than 60 pounds and a street value of about $308,000 between the two seizures.

Both women were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.