San Luis CBP Officers Bust Meth Smugglers

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TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of San Luis arrested two U.S. citizens recently for separate attempts to smuggle a combined $140,000 worth of methamphetamine into the United States.

A CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted officers to a Chrysler sedan Friday, driven by a 19-year-old man. Officers searched the vehicle and found more than 20 pounds of meth concealed in the front fenders.

On Saturday, a CBP canine alerted officers to the rocker panels of a Honda sedan, driven by a 20-year-old woman. Officers removed nearly 25 pounds of meth from the vehicle.

Although both subjects are U.S. citizens, they are residents of San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. Officers seized the drugs and vehicles, and referred both subjects to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Federal law allows officers to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of charges for criminal activity without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CBP's Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Homeland Security tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.

-CBP-

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP’s mission includes keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws. Follow us on Twitter @CBPArizona.

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