Border Patrol agents from the Casa Grande Station assisted Tohono O’Odham Police Department (TOPD) in the arrest of one Mexican national after finding narcotics in large burlap sacks attached to horses near Federal Route 15 yesterday afternoon.
A TOPD officer encountered a male subject leading two horses with large burlap sacks near the village of Santa Rosa, Arizona. As the officer approached the subject, the 25-year-old Mexican national left the horses and fled on foot. The officer was able to seize the horses and call for Border Patrol assistance. Agents responded to search for the subject and later arrested him in the vicinity.
A search of the bags revealed more than 262 pounds of marijuana and 6 pounds of methamphetamine, with a combined value of more than $123,000. The illegal alien was arrested for drug smuggling and the case was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Border Patrol relies on the collaboration between state, local, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies to combat the transport of illegal aliens and drugs into the country.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.