Yuma agents find Mesa teen at border

January 09, 2012 6:48 PM
BY JAMES GILBERT - SUN STAFF WRITER

Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents located a female teenager on Sunday who had been missing from a Mesa group home. Later that same night, Customs and Border Protection officers seized nearly 73 pounds of cocaine, valued in excess of $660,000, while conducting a secondary inspection at the U.S. Port of Entry at San Luis, Ariz., later the same night.

According to the Yuma Sector Public Affairs Office, agents assigned to the Bike Unit in San Luis observed the girl acting suspiciously as she attempted to cross the border into Mexico.

When the agents questioned her, she claimed to be a 19-year-old Mexican national who was in the country illegally. The agents then arrested and transported her to the Yuma Station.

While at the station, a background check revealed the girl to be a 14-year-old U.S. citizen who had run away from a group home for troubled children in Mesa. It was also discovered that she had a warrant for her arrest for allegedly assaulting a school resource officer.

The teen was turned over to the Yuma Police Department.

Meanwhile, CBP officers referred a 41-year-old male U.S. citizen from San Luis, Ariz., who was traveling with his wife and three children, for a secondary inspection of his Chevrolet truck when he attempted to enter the United States.

While in secondary, a CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs, and officers eventually removed 30 packages of cocaine from the spare tire.

The drugs and the truck were processed for seizure. The 41-year-old man was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. His family was released.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.

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