Customs officers nab meth smugglers at San Luis Port

TUCSON — A Mexican man and an American woman were arrested over the weekend by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in separate incidents, for allegedly smuggling quantities of methamphetamine with a total street value of almost $270,000.

A 26-year-old Mexican man from Culiacan, Sonora, who was driving a Ford SUV Friday afternoon, was referred for additional inspection Friday afternoon as he attempted to enter the United States through the San Luis Port, said a release from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

A CBP drug-sniffing K-9 alerted to the scent of narcotics from inside the vehicle’s rear seats. Thirty packages of meth, weighing nearly 28 pounds and worth almost $84,000, were discovered hidden within the seats.

On Sunday morning, a 22-year-old Phoenix woman was referred for a further search of her Chevy truck, reports CBP. After a K-9 alerted on her vehicle, 60 packages of meth were found within the rear doors and a spare tire. The drugs weighed almost 62 pounds and were worth nearly $186,000.

The two suspects were arrested and remanded to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit. The suspects’ vehicles were seized.

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