Nogales, Arizona - Customs and Border Protection officers arrested four Mexican nationals and two Arizona women, during separate weekend smuggling attempts at the Port of Nogales.
Officers first referred a 23-year-old Nogales, Ariz. woman for further inspection when she crossed through the Morley Pedestrian Gate on May 20. A positive alert by a CBP narcotics-detection canine led officers to slightly more than a pound of meth, worth more than $3,000. The drugs were disguised as a bag of burritos.
A short time later, officers at the Dennis DeConcini crossing referred a 45-year-old Mexican national male for a secondary inspection of his Chevrolet truck. When searching the dashboard area, officers located nearly 28 pounds of cocaine. The drugs are valued at more than $311,000.
On May 21, officers referred a 38-year-old Mexican national male for further inspection of his Ford truck at the DeConcini crossing. After a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted to the center console area of the truck, officers removed nearly 16 pounds of cocaine, worth nearly $179,000 concealed around the transmission.
The following day, officers referred a 43-year-old Mexican national and his 40-year-old Mexican spouse for an inspection of his Chevrolet sedan at the Nogales West/Mariposa crossing. Again, with assistance from a narcotics-detection canine, officers found almost 24 pounds of cocaine, valued at nearly $271,000, and nearly 10 pounds of meth, exceeding $28,900 in value.
Later that evening, officers at the DeConcini crossing referred a 60-year-old Glendale, Ariz. woman for further inspection of her Ford truck. A drug canine alerted officers to the tailgate, where officers removed more than 27 pounds of meth, worth nearly $82,000, as well as more than three pounds of heroin, worth nearly $54,000.
Officers seized the vehicles and drugs, and turned the subjects over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.