Thread: AZ: Border busts: $9M in drugs, 5 suspects

Published: 05.25.2007
Border busts: $9M in drugs, 5 suspects

RYN GARGULINSKI

Tucson Citizen
A potpourri of drugs with an estimated street value of more than $9 million was seized at the Mexican border Tuesday, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman said in a news release Wednesday.
The first seizure occurred just before 7 a.m. at the San Luis Port of Entry when a 30-year-old Mexican man was found to have 121 pounds of marijuana hidden behind the back seat and spare tire of his 1999 GMC pickup, CBP Officer Brian Levin said.
At 9:45 a.m., also at the San Luis port, a 26-year-old Mexican man tried to walk across the border with nearly 5 pounds of methamphetamine strapped to his legs, Levin said.
Around 4 p.m., at the commercial import facility in Nogales, a 37-year-old man from Nogales, Son., had 246 pounds of cocaine hidden in his truckload of peppers, Levin said.
Another load of peppers was stopped around 5 p.m at the same port, Levin said, with a 23-year-old Mexican citizen at the wheel and 245 pounds of cocaine in a compartment in the gas tank.
Levin said the pepper truck busts were a result of the work of drug dogs Robbie and Duco, respectively.
The day's final bust came around 8 p.m. at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales when a 27-year-old American citizen from Phoenix had hidden compartments in the side panels of a pickup truck stuffed with 30 pounds of methamphetamine.
Overall, CBP officers arrested five people, none of whom was named, and seized a total of 35 pounds of methamphetamine worth an estimated $948,000, 121 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $193,000 and 491 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $8.1 million.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/52687.php

A good overall display of the moral values president bush attributes to illegal border crossers.

Two significant marijuana seizures by border agents in two days

08:31 PM MST on Thursday, May 24, 2007

By Alicia Barrón, Fox 11 News

Two large marijuana seizures have been made in the past two days by border patrol agents.

A news release from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol indicate agents responded to vehicle traffic crossing the border the morning of May 23.

The suspicious vehicle was traveling northbound on Federal Route 1 near Menegers village on the Tohono O’Odham Reservation.

When agents arrived at the location, they saw the driver of a white Chevy truck turn around and head back south in an attempt to return into Mexico.

According to the news release, the truck became stuck about 100 yards north of the border and the driver abandoned the vehicle before running into Mexico.

Border Patrol agents discovered 106 bundles of marijuana, totaling 2,210 pounds worth $1,768.00 which has been turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In another incident that occurred May 24, border agents at the Interstate 19 checkpoint near Tubac sent a tractor trailer for secondary inspection after a canine unit alerted to the vehicle.

After further inspection, 2,191 pounds of marijuana were visible among the trailer’s cargo valued at $1,752,800.

The marijuana was seized and the driver is in DEA custody pending prosecution.

http://www.fox11az.com/news/topstories/ ... 97b92.html