Nogales CBP Officers Seize Hard Drugs

Drugs valued at more than $600,000

Nogales, Ariz. — Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Tucson Field Office seized nearly 37 pounds of methamphetamine and close to three pounds of cocaine at the Mariposa Port Wednesday. 

Officers selected a 30-year-old Mexican man travelling with his wife and minor child for additional inspection of their Ford truck. After a CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs in the vehicle frame, officers removed 32 packages of hard drugs. Thirty of the packages contained $573,500 worth of methamphetamine; the other two contained cocaine valued at approximately $27,000. The drugs and vehicle were processed for seizure. The driver was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. His wife and child were released without further incident.

Individuals arrested may be charged by complaint, the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity, which raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Customs and Border Protection 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.