Border patrol seizes $500K of pot near T or C

Sun-News report
Posted: 03/12/2013 01:49:39 PM MDT

LAS CRUCES Ð U.S. Border Patrol Agents seized $500,000 in marijuana Monday and arrested one man attempting to sneak contraband past a traffic checkpoint in New Mexico.

Agents assigned to the checkpoint on Highway 26 near T or C apprehended a U.S. citizen for possession of narcotics after he approached the inspection area. Agents noted the driver acting unusually as they questioned him. They also reported inconsistencies in the information he provided and referred him to secondary inspection.

A K-9 inspection alerted agents to the possible presence of drugs in the 2000 Ford pick-up. Further inspection of the truck revealed bundles wrapped in brown packing tape hidden in a false compartment of the cab and under an altered truck bed.

Once the drugs were removed from the vehicle, the subject and the narcotics were turned over to the Doña Ana Metro Narcotics Task Force. The vehicle was seized by U.S. Border Patrol.

Later the same day, U.S. Border Patrol agents working in Deming discovered footprints leading from the border and traveling north. Agents on ATV's began tracking the subjects with the assistance of agents using truck mounted infrared cameras. They were able to locate two people and a total of 90 pounds of marijuana they were transporting. The subjects were arrested and the narcotics were transported to the Deming station.

Border patrol seizes $500K of pot near T or C - Las Cruces Sun-News