TUCSON – A U.S. citizen and two Mexican nationals were arrested in connection with a pair of separate failed smuggling attempts over the past weekend at Arizona’s Port of Nogales.
On Friday evening, a 26-year-old Mexican male and his 28-year-old U.S. citizen passenger were referred to secondary inspection at the Mariposa Crossing. A search of his Ford sedan led to the discovery of two large bundles of unreported U.S. currency that were hidden within the car’s rear seats, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The packages contained nearly $96,000.
On Sunday afternoon, a 28-year-old Mexican man was referred for further inspection of his Toyota sedan. After a narcotics detection canine alerted to the smell of drugs, officers discovered more than 30 packages of heroin, worth more than $268,000. Officers also found more than 27 pounds of meth, worth nearly $82,000 and fentanyl, worth an estimated value of almost $56,000.
The vehicles, drugs, and money was seized. The unsuccessful smugglers were all arrested and then turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.