C.B.P. News Release

Single Bust Nets more than $500K in Cocaine, Heroin, Meth for Lukeville CBP Officers

(Tuesday, October 11, 2011)

Lukeville, Ariz. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from Tucson’s Office of Field Operations, a component of the Joint Field Command-Arizona, apprehended a 46-year-old Mexican national Saturday for attempting to smuggle more than half-a-million dollars worth of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines into the United States through a vehicle lane at the Lukeville Port.

Officers arrested the driver of a 2009 Volkswagen Bora after discovering 37 duct-taped packages of varying sizes in a non-factory compartment. The mixed narcotics had a combined weight of more than 38 pounds with an estimated value $520,790. Officers seized the drugs and vehicle. The driver was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations for prosecution.

Individuals arrested are charged with a criminal complaint, which raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the JFC-AZ in February 2011 as an organizational realignment that brings together the Tucson and Yuma Border Patrol Sectors and their Air Branches, as well as the Tucson Field Office, under a unified command structure. JFC-AZ integrates CBP’s border security, commercial enforcement and trade facilitation missions to more effectively meet the unique challenges faced in Arizona. Follow us on Twitter@CBPArizona or for more information, please visit the CBP Arizona Web site. ( CBP Arizona )

CBP's Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Homeland Security tasked primarily with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related responsibilities, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Contacts For This News Release
Chris Leon
CBP Public Affairs
Phone: (520) 519-7047

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/new ... 2011_5.xml