Seeds of Doubt Lead to CBP Drug Seizure at Port

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TUCSON, Ariz. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Mariposa Commercial Facility in Nogales, Arizona, seized $1.2 million in marijuana – more than 2,400 pounds – from a Mexican national Wednesday when he attempted to enter the United States.

Officers working with a CBP narcotics-detection canine discovered the drugs co-mingled within bins of watermelons in a tractor-trailer driven by a 46-year-old man from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

Officers seized the entire shipment and referred the subject to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Wednesday’s seizure is the second significant load of marijuana intercepted this week at the Mariposa facility. On Tuesday, officers seized 6,500 pounds of marijuana found in a shipment of strawberry jam and, earlier in December, seized 10,000 pounds of marijuana.

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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