U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of San Luis arrested two female United States citizens after seizing more than a combined 64 pounds of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine during separate incidents Sunday.
Officers referred a 42-year-old woman from Bapchule, Arizona, for a secondary search of her Nissan sedan when she attempted to cross into the United States. As a result, a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted to the vehicle’s backseat where officers found more than 23 pounds of heroin worth almost $403,000.
A few hours later, officers referred a 33-year-old Los Angeles resident for further search of her GMC SUV when she attempted to enter the United States. During the inspection, a CBP canine helped officers locate nearly 29 pounds of meth, worth more than $86,000, and almost 13 pounds of cocaine, worth more than $143,000, inside the vehicle’s firewall and trunk area.
In both incidents, officers arrested the women for narcotics smuggling and seized the drugs and vehicles. Both suspects were then turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.