CBP Officers in Arizona Stop Heroin, Marijuana Smuggling Attempts; Prevent Illegal Entry

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Tucson, Ariz. — In a series of events yesterday at several ports of entry along the Arizona/Sonora border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped a $700,000 heroin smuggling attempt, seized 436 pounds of marijuana hidden inside a speaker box in a truck, and arrested a 52-year-old woman attempting to enter using a U.S. passport that didn’t belong to her.

The heroin incident began at 6 p.m. last night at the Dennis DeConcini port of entry in Nogales, when officers screening pedestrians coming into the United States stopped a 63-year-old man to ask routine questions. When officers became suspicious during the questioning, they decided a search should be performed on the man’s luggage. After noticing anomalies in a suitcase during a quick search using an X-ray machine, officers discovered 11 packages of heroin hidden between the panels inside. The heroin, which weighed almost 17 pounds, was seized and the man was arrested. He was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation and prosecution.

A little earlier in the day, at around 2:30 p.m., officers screening people entering by foot through the same port of entry arrested a 52-year-old woman from Jalisco, Mexico on suspicion of attempting to enter the United States illegally after discovering the U.S. passport she presented was not hers. The woman was arrested and turned over to special agents with the Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security for further investigation and prosecution.

At 10:45 a.m. at the Douglas port of entry, officers stopped the driver of a 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 and, due to suspicions raised during questioning, decided to perform an inspection of the vehicle. While looking through the truck, officers opened a speaker box in the back and discovered 436 pounds of marijuana hidden inside. The 22 bundles of marijuana and vehicle were seized and the driver, a 26-year-old man from Hermosillo, was arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In addition to these incidents, CBP officers at the ports of entry stopped six additional attempts at entering the country using fraudulent documents or false claims to U.S. citizenship. They also apprehended nine people with warrants for their arrest, and recovered one stolen vehicle. Officers seized an additional 340 pounds of marijuana during four other smuggling attempts.