YUMA – Over the weekend, U.S. Border Patrol agents seized nearly $450K in methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl, and apprehended two Mexican nationals in in Dome Valley.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), last Friday afternoon, agents working at the Interstate 8 Immigration Checkpoint referred a driver in a Dodge Charger to the secondary inspection area after a Border Patrol canine alerted to the smell of drugs. Agents found 230 packages of methamphetamine, weighing more than 135 pounds with an estimated value of nearly $312,000 hidden in the trunk.
The failed smuggler was arrested.
On Friday evening, Border Patrol agents referred a Honda Civic for a secondary search after a drug sniffing dog alerted to the vehicle. A Mexican citizen with a border crossing card, and two United States citizens, one of whom was from Somerton were arrested after a search of the vehicle. The search revealed 16 packages of methamphetamine hidden in the dashboard and console area of the vehicle. The narcotics weighed more than 26 pounds with an estimated value of almost $61,000.
Then on Saturday morning, agents encountered U.S. citizens smuggling two illegal aliens from Mexico in the backseat are of the vehicle. The 30-year-old driver and 27-year-old passenger were arrested for harboring illegal aliens, and the illegal aliens were arrested for being unlawfully present in the United States.
Later on Saturday, agents observed a Cadillac traveling through Dome Valley from Highway 95. Because Dome Valley is a route commonly used to circumvent the immigration checkpoint agents stopped the vehicle only to discovered cocaine and fentanyl hidden in the rear passenger and driver-side quarter panels.
According to CBP, the cocaine weighed more than 5 pounds with an estimated value of more than $66,000. The fentanyl has an approximate weight in excess of 13 pounds. The two occupants, both United States citizens, were arrested for transportation of a controlled substance.