Suspected fentanyl smuggler nabbed by CBP officers

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of Lukeville arrested a Phoenix man Monday after they said he tried to smuggle fentanyl.

Officers said they referred a 25-year-old man for a secondary inspection of his Honda sedan as he applied to enter the United States from Mexico Monday afternoon. A CBP canine alerted to an odor it is trained to detect, leading officers to the discovery of drugs underneath the vehicle’s hood.

The drugs were identified as nearly one and half pounds of suspected fentanyl, worth more than $42,000, which were hidden in the air intake and cabin filter box.

Officers arrested the man and turned him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, while the drugs and the vehicle were seized.