Nogales CBP Officers Stop Seniors Smuggling ‘Date-Rape’ Drug into U.S.

Nogales, Ariz. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Tucson Field Office, a component of CBP’s Joint Field Command – Arizona, stopped three Mexican women yesterday involved in apparently separate smuggling attempts of a strong animal tranquilizer often used in the commission of sexual assaults.

Officers at the Morley Pedestrian crossing referred a 54-year-old Nogales, Sonora, woman for secondary questioning after she attempted to enter the United States. When officers searched the subject, they found 30, 10ml bottles of ketamine.

Officers then referred a 63-year-old Nogales, Sonora, woman for additional questioning when she attempted to enter the United States through a pedestrian lane. Officers searched the subject and found 30 more 10ml bottles of ketamine.

In a third incident, officers referred a 69-year-old Nogales, Sonora, woman for additional questioning after she attempted to enter the United States through a pedestrian lane. When officers searched the woman they found 25 10ml bottles containing ketamine.

In all three instances, the drugs were processed for seizure and the women were referred for visa cancellations.

This was the second day in recent weeks that officers have seized substantial amounts of ketamine. On Oct. 20, a 25-year-old Nogales, Ariz. woman was stopped with 50 bottles of the drug.

The Drug Enforcement Administration describes ketamine as a clear, odorless and tasteless liquid developed in the early 1960s to replace phencyclidine (PCP) as an anesthetic. Since ketamine is odorless and tasteless, it can be added to beverages without being detected, and it induces amnesia. Because of these properties, the drug is sometimes given to unsuspecting victims and used in the commission of sexual assaults referred to as “drug rape” or “date rape.”

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 primarily 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 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.