Customs and Border Protection officers apprehended a U.S. citizen and a Mexican national for separate recent attempts to smuggle close to $950,000 worth of heroin and methamphetamine into the U.S. through the Port of Nogales.
Officers at the Mariposa crossing referred a 45-year-old Mexican man for a secondary inspection of a 2006 Jeep he was driving when he applied for entry into the United States early Saturday. As a result, officers discovered multiple packages of meth concealed in the vehicle’s front and rear seats. Combined, the drugs weighed almost 40 pounds and worth more than $101,000.
Early yesterday, officers at the DeConcini crossing referred a 27-year-old male U.S. citizen for an additional search of the 2004 Pontiac he was driving. During the search, officers located 33 packages of heroin in the vehicle’s roof. The packages had a combined weight of almost 50 pounds, making the value of this seizure close to $850,000.
CBP officers seized the drugs and vehicles. After arresting the individuals for narcotics smuggling, officers turned the suspects over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.