MORE THAN 40 POUNDS OF BLACK TAR HEROIN INTERCEPTED AT SAN YSIDRO BORDER CROSSING
Seizure ranks among Southern California’s largest in recent years

SAN DIEGO - A Tustin woman faces federal charges here today in connection with one of the largest recent heroin seizures in Southern California. Maria de Jesus Diaz, 34, was arrested after attempting to smuggle nearly 43 pounds of black tar Mexican heroin into the United States through the San Ysidro port of entry Saturday evening.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the port of entry stopped the Lincoln Navigator Diaz was driving just before 7:00 p.m. and discovered 13 packages of heroin hidden in her undergarments and behind a rear panel in the vehicle. A test of one of the parcels revealed a positive reaction for heroin.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who are handling the criminal investigation, say the intercept was the result of a computer-generated referral. A subsequent search of Diaz's Tustin residence by local law enforcement resulted in the recovery of $27,000 in cash.

Diaz is being held at the Metropolitan Correction Center in San Diego.

http://www.ice.gov/graphics/news/newsre ... ndiego.htm