Lukeville Port Officers Seize $1.4M in Marijuana

TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of Lukeville arrested four U.S. citizens and seized more than 2,800 pounds of marijuana during two Easter weekend smuggling attempts.

On Saturday, a 55-year-old man from Glendale, Arizona, traveling with a 58-year-old female passenger from Phoenix, was referred for a secondary inspection of his motorhome. A CBP narcotics-detection canine then led officers to find multiple marijuana bundles, weighing more than 2,600 pounds and valued in excess of $1.3 million.

The following day, officers referred a 40-year-old man from Green Valley, Arizona, and his 24-year-old female passenger for further inspection of his Ford truck. With the aid of a narcotics-detection canine, officers found more than 150 pounds of marijuana, worth almost $77,000, within the truck’s bed.

Officers seized the drugs and vehicles, and turned the suspects over 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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