San Luis CBP Officers arrest alleged meth smuggler

Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of San Luis arrested a 37-year-old Somerton, Ariz. man after finding almost 29 pounds of methamphetamine in his Dodge SUV Sunday evening.

Officers referred the man for a secondary inspection of his vehicle as he entered the United States through the port. When a CBP narcotics-detection canine screened the vehicle, it alerted to the fuel tank containing more than two dozen packages of meth, worth nearly $86,000.

Following the suspect’s arrest, CBP officers turned him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and seized the vehicle and drugs.

Federal law allows officers to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the 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.

CBP’s Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Homeland Security tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation’s food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.