Four Mexicans arrested in vehicles with meth, cocaine
October 20, 2016
A half-million dollars in methamphetamine and cocaine were seized during three attempted Nogales drug smuggling attempts on October 14 and 15. Four Mexican nationals were arrested in connection with the drug interdictions at the Nogales international ports of entry.
On Friday, October 14, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) drug-detection dog alerted his uniformed colleagues at the DeConcini Port of Entry to the possible presence of drugs in a Volkswagen sedan driven by a 25-year-old man from Nogales, Mexico.
Upon further inspection, CBP officers located 25 pounds of meth hidden in the Volkswagen. The drugs had a value of $74,000.
The next day, a 36-year-old woman from Hermosillo, Sonora, also driving a Volkswagen sedan, was directed to the secondary inspection area at the Mariposa Port of Entry. There, a drug-sniffing canine pointed Customs officers in the direction of the vehicle’s rear quarter panels, where they found a stash of more than 21 pounds of cocaine. The coke was valued at $243,000.
And later that Saturday, a Hyundai SUV attempting to cross the Nogales international border at the Mariposa Port of Entry attracted the attention of a CBP drug-detection dog. The team of CBP officers and the canine then located more than 15 pounds of cocaine, worth more than $175,000, and more than five pounds of methamphetamine, worth more than $15,000, hidden under the rear seats of the vehicle.
The 33-year-old female vehicle operator and her 29-year-old female passenger, both from Hermosillo, Mexico, were arrested.
The drugs and the three vehicles were seized, and the four smuggling suspects were sent to the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations unit.
Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection
