Nogales CBP Officers Seize $337K in Marijuana, Meth
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Port of Nogales recently arrested two U.S. citizens and a Mexican national during separate smuggling attempts involving a combined 212 pounds of methamphetamine and marijuana, worth an estimated $337,000.
Early Friday , officers at the Dennis DeConcini crossing referred a 24-year-old Phoenix woman for an additional search of her Dodge SUV and found more than 65 pounds of meth, valued at $196,000, in the vehicle’s firewall and rear quarter panels.
Later that morning, officers at the same crossing referred a 22-year-old Rio Rico woman for further search of her BMW sedan. Working with a CBP narcotics-detection canine, officers located 27 pounds of meth, worth $81,000, hidden the vehicle’s firewall and rear quarter panels.
On Saturday , officers at the Mariposa crossing seized close to 120 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $60,000, during a secondary inspection of a Dodge SUV driven by a 26-year-old Mexican man.
Officers seized all drugs and vehicles involved, and turned the subjects over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Federal law allows officers to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows for 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.
