Nogales CBP Officers Uncover Almost $301K in Drugs

Release Date: 

August 9, 2016

TUCSON, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested three Mexican nationals involved in separate weekend attempts to smuggle more than $300,000 in methamphetamine and marijuana through the Port of Nogales.

Officers at the DeConcini crossing seized
58 pounds of meth that was discovered within
the rear bumper.

The first incident occurred early Aug. 6 when officers at the Dennis DeConcini crossing found nearly 58 pounds of meth, worth almost $173,000, concealed inside the back bumper of a Buick SUV driven by a 29-year-old resident of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

On Aug. 7, CBP officers working with a narcotics-detection canine at the DeConcini crossing located more than 32 pounds of meth, worth in excess of $96,000, within the cab and dashboard of a Chevy truck driven by a 34-year-old man from Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico.

More than 65 pounds of marijuana were recovered
from within the gas tank of a smuggling vehicle,
by officers at the Nogales West Mariposa crossing. 

Earlier in another Chevy truck, officers and a canine at the Nogales West Mariposa crossing discovered more than 65 pounds of marijuana, worth almost $33,000, in the vehicle’s gas tank. Officers identified the driver as a 30-year-old woman from Santa Ana, Sonora, Mexico.

Officers seized the narcotics and vehicles, and turned the subjects over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.