Border Patrol agents from the Nogales Station arrested an Indonesia national for smuggling methamphetamine at the immigration checkpoint in Amado on Friday evening.
Agents working the Interstate 19 immigration checkpoint referred the occupants of a shuttle van for inspection. A search of one of the passengers, a 25-year-old permanent resident alien from Indonesia, led to the discovery of more than 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine valued at nearly $5,000.
The man was arrested and is currently being held on federal drug smuggling charges awaiting disposition.
Federal law allows agents 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.