Lukeville, Arizona - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of Lukeville arrested two U.S. citizens after seizing almost 21 pounds of methamphetamine from them Saturday.
Officers referred a 25-year-old Glendale, Arizona woman and her 36-year-old male passenger, from Peoria, Arizona, for a secondary inspection of her Dodge sedan after the pair applied to return to the United States from Mexico. An alert by a CBP canine to an odor it was trained to detect led officers to discover approximately 21 pounds of methamphetamine, worth nearly $63,000, and a non-factory compartment in the vehicle.
The drugs and vehicle were seized, and both arrested subjects were turned 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 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.