U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Port of Nogales seized a combined $342,000 worth of heroin and methamphetamine during three recent incidents.
Officers working with a canine at the Mariposa crossing Tuesday evening, found almost 8 pounds of heroin inside the rear passenger door of a Pontiac sedan, driven by a 76-year-old Mexican man. The drugs have an estimated value of approximately $136,000.
Officers working at the Mariposa crossing Saturday morning, again with a narcotics-detection canine, referred a 28-year-old Mexican man driving a Ford SUV for further inspection and discovered almost 5 pounds of heroin taped to the subject’s back. The drugs were estimated to be worth nearly $83,000.
A few hours earlier, officers working with a canine at the Dennis DeConcini crossing removed $117,000 worth of meth – 39 pounds – from the center console of a Volkswagen sedan driven by a 25-year-old Mexican man.
On May 25, officers working the DeConcini pedestrian lanes referred a 38-year-old Tucson woman for further questioning. A records checks revealed she was wanted on an outstanding U.S. Marshals’ warrant for alien smuggling. When the woman was searched, officers found packages of meth under her breasts and in her crotch area. The meth weighed more than two pounds and is worth almost $6,500.