TUCSON – Typically when we think about a drug smuggling vehicle, we usually think of a sports car or a 4-wheel drive truck, not a wheelchair. Unless of course you are a trained agent who can think outside the box, or a trained narcotics detection canine.
On Wednesday, one of those dogs working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Port of Nogales sniffed out a 56-year-old Tucson man attempting to smuggle nearly eight pounds of methamphetamine concealed in a wheelchair. The man was arrested as he attempted to enter the U.S. following a positive alert by a CBP narcotics detection canine.
A search by officers led to the discovery of three packages of methamphetamine stitched into the seat and the backrest of the wheelchair. The man had a package of meth concealed on his body.
In total he attempted to smuggle approximately $8,000.00 in drugs.
The unidentified man was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.