TUCSON, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of Lukeville arrested two U.S. citizens during separate weekend attempts to smuggle approximately $145,000 worth of methamphetamine and marijuana across the international border.
Officers conducting cursory inspection of inbound vehicles Saturday afternoon referred a male 18-year-old Phoenix resident for an additional inspection of a 2002 Chrysler sedan he was driving. A subsequent search by a CBP canine, turned up packages of meth concealed between the vehicle’s rear seat and trunk. The drugs had a combined weight of approximately 14 pounds, worth in excess of $40,600.
Monday afternoon, CBP officers were screening inbound vehicles when their assigned canine alerted to a 2003 Ford truck belonging to a 64-year-old man from Clarkdale, Arizona. During a subsequent search of the vehicle, officers found more than 200 pounds of marijuana in the back seat area.
Officers arrested both suspects for narcotics smuggling and turned them over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. Officers also seized the drugs and vehicles.