NOGALES: U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested four Mexican nationals and two U.S. citizens in separate smuggling incidents involving $1,330,000 worth of narcotics at the Port of Nogales over the last five days.
On Thursday, May 21, 51-year-old Marjorie Quinones was taken into custody after a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted the officers at the Dennis DeConcini crossing of 21 pounds of methamphetamine and nearly four pounds of heroin in the Nogales, Sonora resident’s Jeep SUV. The methamphetamine was valued at $64,000 and the heroin was worth in excess of $53,000.
The next day, Oscar Ledezma-Ortiz was arrested at the Mariposa crossing after a narcotics-detection canine alerted the officers to 10 packages of cocaine and two packages of heroin in the Glendale, Ariz. resident’s Toyota sedan. The cocaine was worth in excess of $264,500 and weighed more than 25 pounds. The heroin, which weighed nearly five pounds, had an estimated value of more than $67,500. The 51-year-old man is a legal permanent resident alien.
The earlier that day at Dennis DeConcini crossing, 56-year-old Gerardo Felipe Vazquez-Ramos and 57-year-old Cesar Ernesto Canez-Felix were apprehended after a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted the officers of 16 packages of cocaine underneath the rear seats of the Cajeme, Sonora residents’ Ford SUV. The narcotics, which weighed more than 42.5 pounds, had an estimated value of $444,000.
On Saturday, May 23, officers at the DeConcini crossing arrested 22-year-old Juan Carlos Lopez-Garcia after a narcotics team located 11 packages of methamphetamine and more than nine packages of heroin in the Nogales, Sonora resident’s Volkswagen. The methamphetamine weighed more than 10 pounds and was worth more than $31,000. The heroin, valued at almost $180,000, weighed nearly 13 pounds.
All the drugs and vehicles involved were processed for seizure. The suspects were referred to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
