Nogales CBP Officers Seize Cocaine

Drugs concealed inside truck radiator

Nogales, Ariz. — Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Tucson Field Office, a component of CBP’s Joint Field Command – Arizona, seized more than $200,000 worth of cocaine Wednesday.

Officers assigned to the Mariposa Commercial Port referred a 23-year-old Mexican man for a secondary inspection of his Ford truck when he attempted to enter the United States. 

After a CBP narcotics detection canine and subsequent x-ray confirmed an anomaly in the radiator, officers located and removed eight packages of cocaine weighing more than 22 pounds. The truck and narcotics 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. 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.

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.