Nogales CBP Officers Seize Cocaine Worth more than $500,000

Nogales, Ariz. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Tucson Field Office, a component of CBP’s Joint Field Command – Arizona, seized cocaine yesterday valued at $567,700 when a 26-year-old Mexican male from Nogales, Sonora, attempted to enter the United States through a Dennis DeConcini Port vehicle lane.

During a secondary inspection of the man’s 2000 Ford F150, CBP officers noticed discrepancies in the fuel tank and then used a narcotics detection canine to check the truck. The canine alerted to the presence of narcotics, leading to the discovery of 26 packages of cocaine hidden in a compartment in the fuel tank. The drugs, weighing more than 60 pounds, and vehicle were processed for seizure. The subject was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Individuals arrested are charged with a criminal complaint, which raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent 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. OFO 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.

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