90 pounds of cocaine seized at U.S.-Mexico border this week
RYN GARGULINSKI
Tucson Citizen

Officers seized more than 88 pounds of cocaine at the border this week, including two hidden packages strapped to a 14-year-old boy, according to a Friday news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The seizures at both the Nogales and Douglas ports of entry Monday stemmed from four different incidents and led to four arrests, the release said.

About 6:30 a.m., a 42-year-old woman driving a 2006 Honda CR-V into the United States arose officers' suspicions.

They checked her vehicle and came up with 19 packages of cocaine, weighing more than 39 pounds, the release said.

At 11:30 a.m. at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, officers searched a 1992 Ford F-150 driven by a 31-year-old man and found 10 packages of the drug, weighing in at more than 12 pounds, the release said.

The third seizure was at 1:15 p.m., also in Nogales, involving a 28-year-old man with 13 packages of cocaine, weighing more than 32 pounds, hidden in his Volkswagen Jetta.

The 14-year-old boy was busted around 2 p.m. walking into the country through Nogales' Morley entrance, the release said. Officers discovered the youth was carrying two packages containing nearly 5 pounds of cocaine.

All four Mexico nationals, whose names were withheld, were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation and possible prosecution, the release said. The drugs and vehicles were seized.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimates the street value of the seized cocaine to be nearly $2.3 million.

Since the beginning of October, officers at the ports of entry in Arizona have stopped 100 cocaine smuggling attempts, seizing 2,872 pounds of the drug with an estimated street value of $73.5 million, the release said.
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