Thread: Today's arrest, seizures, bust etc. 7/11/12

Black tar heroin, pot seized at checkpoint

July 10, 2012 5:02 PM
BY JAMES GILBERT @YSJamesGilbert

Border Patrol agents from Yuma Sector's Wellton Station seized 2.5 pounds of black tar heroin and nearly 25 pounds of marijuana at a Border Patrol checkpoint Monday.

According to Agent Spencer Tippets of the Yuma Sector Public Affairs Office, agents assigned to the Interstate 8 checkpoint at mile marker 17 referred a four-door sedan to secondary inspection after a canine team alert.

Tippets said the driver of the sedan, a U.S. citizen, consented to a search of his vehicle. During the search, agents discovered the heroin and marijuana.

The heroin was valued at more than $33,000, while the marijuana had an estimated street value of $12,000.

“It is obviously a high-value product,” Tippets said of the heroin. “The drug-trafficking organizations will go to all types of extremes to try and smuggle drugs into the country.”

The narcotics, suspect and vehicle were turned over to the Yuma County Narcotics Task Force.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.

Black tar heroin, pot seized at checkpoint, heroin, marijuana, yuma - News - YumaSun

CRIME: Border patrol seizes 22 pounds of meth at checkpoint

3 hours ago • By BRANDON LOWREY blowrey@nctimes.com

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a Mexican man at the Interstate 15 checkpoint north of Escondido after finding 22 pounds of methamphetamine in a hidden compartment in his car, authorities said Wednesday.

The 28-year-old man, whose name was not released, was driving a silver Volkswagen Jetta when agents stopped him at the checkpoint. He seemed nervous, so they checked his car with a drug-detecting dog, according to a Border Patrol statement.

The dog indicated it found something. Agents discovered 13 bundles of methamphetamine, estimated to be worth $441,000, in a "non-factory" compartment in the vehicle, the statement said.

The Border Patrol seized the car and turned over the suspect and the investigation to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the statement said.

CRIME: Border patrol seizes 22 pounds of meth at checkpoint

Border patrol arrests 20 entering US illegally

The Associated Press
Published: Wednesday, Jul. 11, 2012 - 4:33 pm

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Border Patrol officials say they've detained 20 people suspected of illegally entering the United States using a boat to come ashore in Carlsbad.

U-T San Diego reports (Border Patrol arrests 20 in sea smuggling attempt | UTSanDiego.com) a Border Patrol agent grew suspicious after seeing a panga boat headed to sea just off Carlsbad State Beach.

Agent Michael Jimenez says after a search of the area, agents tracked footprints along Interstate 5 to find 18 people hiding in the brush. Two others were found nearby.

Jimenez says all 20 are Mexican nationals, between 17 and 50 years old.

Jimenez says people caught trying to cross the border into the U.S. by sea are deported and banned from returning for five years.

Border patrol arrests 20 entering US illegally - AP State Wire News - The Sacramento Bee

Juárez men attempted to smuggle 12 million cigarettes and 18K bottles of whiskey through El Paso border

By Marisela Ortega Lozano / El Paso Timeselpasotimes.com
Posted: 07/12/2012 04:12:25 PM MDT

Mexican authorities arrested two men in Juárez on charges of smuggling 12 million cigarettes and 18,000 bottles of whiskey, officials said today.

The men, whose identities were not disclosed, were arrested on the Mexican side of the Ysleta-Zaragoza international bridge Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Mexican Attorney General's office said today.

One man was driving a tractor trailer carrying the whiskey, worth up to $146,092, the official said in a press release.

The other suspect was carrying the cigarettes also in a tractor trailer. The cigarettes are worth about $1,750,000.

Both men were jailed and no bond was set, officials said.
Marisela Ortega Lozano maybe reached at mortega@elpasotimes.com; 542-6077.

Juárez men attempted to smuggle 12 million cigarettes and 18K bottles of whiskey through El Paso border - El Paso Times