Border Patrol arrests 30, seizes $3.4M in drugs

Pot, coke, meth and heroin seized in separate incidents

Posted Mar 22, 2012, 3:32 pm
Janet Rose Jackman TucsonSentinel.com

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested 30 suspected drug smugglers and seized nearly $3.4 million worth of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine in separate incidents since Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.

Casa Grande Station agents working near the F.R. 15 checkpoint tracked a pickup driving off-road in the desert near Khotk and attempted to stop the vehicle, the Border Patrol said.

Agents watched the driver and a passenger jump from the vehicle and run. The agents were able to stop the moving vehicle and found a Mexican national hiding in the bed of the truck with 27 bundles of marijuana, the Border Patrol said.

The pot, which weighed 630 pounds and is worth $315,000, was seized with the vehicle. The man, a resident of Sonora, Mexico, faces possible federal charges, the Border Patrol said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Ajo Station agents from the All-Terrain Vehicle unit tracked footprints east of the Lukeville Port that led to 15 bundles of marijuana hidden in a wash, the Border Patrol said.

The marijuana, which weighed 762 pounds and is worth $381,000, was to be turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Border Patrol said.

Later Wednesday, a CBP Office of Air and Marine drone detected 26 suspected drug smugglers along the Mexican border. Ajo Station ATV unit agents and a CBP air crew responded and found 24 bundles of marijuana weighing 1,200 pounds and worth $600,000, the Border Patrol said.

The 26 men, all Mexican nationals, face possible federal charges. The drugs were to be turned over to the DEA, the Border Patrol said.

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Heroin, cocaine and meth seized

Nogales Station agents patrolling Wednesday east of the DeConcini Port of Entry arrested two Mexican nationals with three bundles of drugs, the Border Patrol said.

Two of the bundles contained 171 pounds of cocaine worth $2 million. The third had five containers filled with methamphetamine that weighed 7 pounds and is worth nearly $86,000, the Border Parol said.

The suspects face possible federal charges and the drugs were to be turned over to the DEA, the Border Patrol said.

On Tuesday, a Nogales canine team working at the 1-19 checkpoint detected possible drugs in a vehicle that was sent for secondary inspection, the Border Patrol said.

Agents found a small bundle of heroin attached to the driver's thigh. The heroin, which weighed .6 pounds and is worth $9,600, was to be turned over to the DEA. The driver faces possible federal charges, the Border Patrol said.

BP arrests 30, seizes $3.4M in drugs | Border Patrol