WASHINGTON: U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers took five people into custody Wednesday in what they said were separate attempts to smuggle drugs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over the border. CBP agents seized nearly $466,000 in drugs from five suspects at three ports.
At the Port of San Luis, CBP officers arrested three individuals in separate attempts to smuggle more than 67 pounds of methamphetamine worth nearly $202,000 over the border. At the Port of Nogales, a man was arrested and accused of trying to smuggle 22 pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine.
At the Port of Douglas, a teenage girl was apprehended after more than 160 pounds of marijuana, worth almost $81,000, were found in her vehicle, authorities said. Those arrested were identified as Agustin Dimas, 57, of Yuma; Gustavo Origel-Valencia, 51, of Gadsden, Ariz.; Jessica Velazquez-Sanchez, 32, of San Luis, Mexico; and Manuel DeJesus Sanchez-Beltran, 44, of Guasave, Mexico.
The teen, who is from Douglas, is not being identified because she is a minor, authorities said. Her case was turned over to the Douglas Police Department for further investigation, officials said. The drugs, vehicles and suspects in the other cases were referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
