6 arrested, pot load seized near Arivaca

Published: 08.01.2007

6 arrested, pot load seized near Arivaca
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Border Patrol agents arrested six people and seized about 1,000 pounds of marijuana near Arivaca after a brief standoff Tuesday.
The incident started at noon when agents spotted footprints coming from the border south of Arivaca Road, said Richard DeWitt, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman.
They followed the tracks for a while before handing the search off to agents on horseback, who continued tracking the footprints. The prints eventually led to a mobile home on the Serendipity Ranch, east of Arivaca, he said.
Arivaca is about 60 miles southwest of Tucson
After determining that no tracks left the house and smelling marijuana, agents surrounded the trailer.
A woman came out shortly afterward and said there were more people and guns inside. But she wasn't the renter of the mobile home and couldn't give them legal permission to enter, authorities said.
After hearing about the guns and not knowing how many people were inside, agents called for backup and tried to obtain a warrant, DeWitt said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents also arrived in the meantime, and a Black Hawk helicopter flew in more Border Patrol agents because a nearby wash was flooded and blocked ground access.
At about 3 p.m. two people came out of the house. Shortly after, three others emerged, DeWitt said.
At about 7 p.m., agents eventually entered the trailer where they found 45 bundles of marijuana weighing about 1,000 pounds and three rifles, DeWitt said. There was no one else inside.
The mobile home was being used to repackage marijuana into smaller loads, DeWitt said. The six people arrested — two of them U.S. citizens and the others illegal entrants — were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
— Brady McCombs
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