Gov. Doug Ducey, Border Strike Force announce mass narcotic seizures

Governor Doug Ducey, along with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, held a press conference Monday to announce a recent string of drug seizures by the Arizona Border Strike Force.

Monday’s press conference was held at the DPS Southern Arizona Headquarters at 6401 South Tucson Boulevard.

Accompanied by a table of plastic wrapped narcotics, Gov. Ducey said the Arizona Border Strike Force made significant drug seizures during three successful operational deployments last week.

The first seizure happened Sept. 8 on Interstate 10 in Pinal County. A DPS Border Strike Force Trooper seized 52 pounds of methamphetamine and arrested 19-year-old Roberto Cervantes, from Rio Rico, Arizona.

The second seizure happened on Sept. 12 in Pima County. A DPS Border Strike Trooper arrested 24-year-old Guillermo J. Parada from Phoenix. Parada had 122.9 pounds of methamphetamine.

The third seizure happened Sept. 13 in Yuma. A DPS Trooper arrested 18-year-old Martin G. Bogarin, from Yuma, for having 50 pounds of methamphetamine and one pound of fentanyl. That’s approximately 4,000 pills.

According to Gov. Ducey, the methamphetamine’s street pricing could exceed $10 million. The fentanyl could’ve been worth $100,000 and have the potential to kill over 227,000 people.

“Arizona’s Border Strike Force works day and night to fight the everyday threat posed by drug cartels and human smugglers along our southern border. With just three traffic stops, Border Strike Force operations have stopped a significant amount of dangerous drugs from devastating more lives,” said Gov. Ducey. “The great work of the Border Strike Force continues to protect Arizonans and make our communities safer.”