TUCSON – On Thursday night, U.S. Border Patrol agents seized a modified ultralight aircraft and its cargo of nearly $500,000 in methamphetamine and fentanyl, southeast of Tucson.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Tucson Sector agents detected the aircraft as it was entering the United States at approximately 11:00 p.m. The agents electronically tracked the aircraft and directed U.S. Border Patrol units under its path to an improvised landing site south of Tucson. A small aircraft strapped down with meth and fentanyl illegally breached the U.S. border with Mexico and was ditched in Tucson’s southeast desert.
Agents encountered the aircraft abandoned along a rural dirt road, with two large plastic storage containers affixed to the fuselage filled with drugs.
The drugs and aircraft were seized and transported to the Nogales Border Patrol Station, where testing confirmed the packages contained over 143 lbs of meth and over 200 grams of fentanyl.
[metaslider id=65385]
An AMO helicopter crew and Border Patrol agents conducted an exhaustive search of the area, but did not find the presumed pilot.