Thread: Over 450 pounds of marijuana seized at Douglas port

Over 450 pounds of marijuana seized at Douglas port
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.09.2008
advertisementMore than 450 pounds of marijuana has been seized at the Douglas port of entry since the beginning of the month, an official said Wednesday.
The drugs are said to be worth approximately $400,000, according to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The latest seizure occurred Saturday night when a CBP officer became suspicious of the occupants of a 2002 Ford Windstar van and sent the vehicle for further inspection, the release said. A drug-sniffing dog alerted to the presence of narcotics, resulting in the discovery of 78 packages of marijuana that were hidden throughout the van.
The marijuana — weighing 110 pounds — and the van were seized. The 34-year-old driver and his 26-year-old passenger were arrested. Both are U.S. citizens, the release said.
A day earlier on the 4th of July, more than 16 pounds of marijuana was found hidden in the front fender of a 2000 Chevrolet Venture van, the release said. It had been selected for routine inspection, but the driver’s answers and discrepancies in the vehicle led to a thorough search.
The driver — a 38-year-old man — was arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On July 2, just before 8 p.m., a CBP officer became suspicious of the driver of a 2000 Buick Century, the release said. After inspecting the vehicle, officers found 266 pounds of marijuana that was hidden throughout.
The driver who is a permanent resident, was arrested.
Approximately 56 pounds of marijuana was found hidden inside a spare tire July 1 after officers noticed discrepancies in a 1997 Dodge pickup truck that was being driven by a 45-year-old from Mexico, the release said. He was arrested and turned over to ICE.

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/247539

Kind of makes you wonder how much is getting through, doesn't it!

Douglas made the news two days in a row.

Here's yesterday's

Arizona Towns Hurt as Gangs See Smuggling Profit
Smuggling is big business in southern Arizona, where last year the Border Patrol seized 440 tons of marijuana in a furiously trafficked corridor south of Tucson.
DOUGLAS, Ariz (Reuters) - Walls get tagged with graffiti. Cars get shot up in drive-by shootings. Youngsters flash gang signs and battle with bricks, sticks, bats and pipes in the local park over turf. Once a sleepy smelter town on the Mexico border, Douglas is one of several cities in southern Arizona that are being transformed into urban battlefields as warring street gangs muscle in from southern California, police say. A sun-baked backwater of broad streets and bungalows set in vast, high desert ranchland, Douglas is now a patchwork of territories held by the East Side Torrance and the South Side Harbor City, both Los Angeles-area street gangs, as well as lesser home-grown gangs. A few miles up the road in nearby Sierra Vista, a boomtown in the shadow of the looming Huachuca Mountains, police say various factions of the Crips, also from Los Angeles, are warring for control of new streets, malls and subdivisions with the Bloodlines, a local gang. The newcomers, many tattooed and wearing colors, are part of a scramble by street gangs to make money from tons of illegal drugs pouring over the border to Arizona from Mexico each month, along with tens of thousands of fee-paying illegal immigrants.
http://www.wlap.com/cc-common/news/sect ... le=3925653
Mayor Ray Borane graduated from Arizona State University where he obtained a Bachelor and Master of Arts in Foreign Language. His graduate work took place at the Universidad Libre De Colombia in Bogota, Colombia, South America, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and the University of Arizona. Prior to becoming Mayor for the City of Douglas, Mayor Ray Borane was a Spanish Teacher, Foreign Language Department Chairman, Vice Principal at Douglas High School, Assistant Superintendent in the Douglas Unified School District, Superintendent in the Douglas Unified School District, Deputy State Superintendent of Arizona Public Instruction, Assistant to the President at Northern Arizona University and Consultant at Cochise County School Superintendents Office. He was also a member of the Arizona State Board of Education and later became president of the Board. Outside the field of education he was a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Washington, D.C. – Quantico, Virginia.
http://www.douglasaz.gov/MayorCouncil/Mayor&Council.htm