Nogales CBP Officers Seize $324K in Hard Drugs

TUCSON, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested two Mexican nationals in separate incidents Wednesday and Thursday for attempting to smuggle 48 pounds of methamphetamine and 10 pounds of heroin, worth approximately $324,000 combined, through the Port of Nogales’ DeConcini crossing.

In the first seizure, officers referred a 37-year-old man for further inspection of his Dodge truck Wednesday evening and found packages of heroin within the vehicle’s intake manifold. The drugs, weighing more than 10 pounds, exceed $181,000 in value.

Early Thursday, officers referred a 20-year-old man for a search of his Dodge truck and discovered multiple packages of meth behind both doors. The drugs weighed nearly 48 pounds and are worth almost $143,000.

CBP officers seized the drugs and vehicles, and turned both men 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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