83 pounds of cocaine intercepted by authorities

June 03, 2010 11:02 PM
BY STEPHANIE A. WILKEN - SUN STAFF WRITER

Thanks to the keen eyes of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, more than 83 pounds of cocaine were intercepted at the U.S. Port of Entry at San Luis, Ariz., Wednesday.

According to a news release from CBP Thursday, officers arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with the failed drug-smuggling attempt.

The man, accompanied by two passengers, tried to enter through the port Wednesday driving a Ford F-150 truck, when CBP officers referred him for inspection by the primary officer.

During the inspection, a narcotic detector dog was used and alerted CBP officers to the gas tank area, where more than 83 pounds of cocaine was discovered, according to the news release.

CBP public affairs supervisor Teresa Small told the Yuma Sun Thursday that it was a "pretty significant" amount of cocaine.

The cocaine was enclosed in vacuum-sealed packages so that it wouldn't mix with the gasoline, which is often the case when drugs are found in the gas tank of a vehicle, she said.

In addition, she said it's common for vehicles in cases such as this to have little gas in the tank in order to make room for the drugs.

According to the news release, the man was immediately arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement along with his passengers.

CBP officers assigned throughout the Arizona ports have seized approximately 1,886 pounds of cocaine since the beginning of the 2010 fiscal year, October 2009. In the 2009 fiscal year, officers seized a total of approximately 3,303 pounds of cocaine, according to the news release.

Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.

http://www.yumasun.com/articles/officer ... e-cbp.html