Nogales CBP Officers Seize $240K in Cocaine

TUCSON, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a Mexican national Wednesday for attempting to smuggle 21 pounds of cocaine, worth approximately $240,000, through the Port of Nogales’ Mariposa crossing.

Officers referred a 35-year-old woman for a search of her Lincoln SUV and discovered multiple packages of cocaine hidden within a rear air conditioning unit. 

CBP officers seized the drugs and vehicle, and turned the woman 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.

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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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