NEW YORK: Two women were arrested Tuesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers on suspicion of trying to smuggle a combined 137 pounds of narcotics through the Port of Nogales in separate attempts.
Officers at the Mariposa crossing referred Darla Marlene Pimber, 20, for further inspection, when they found 25 pounds of meth, nearly six pounds of heroin and more than two pounds of cocaine inside her vehicle, according to a statement from Customs and Border Protection. The drugs are worth around $180,000, the statement said.
Customs officials said one of their canines alerted officers to another vehicle at the DeConcini crossing later in the day. After inspection, officers discovered almost 105 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $52,000, in the rear of 46-year-old Claudia Gomez-Martinez’s SUV, the agency said.
Both Gomez-Martinez, of Nogales, Mexico; and Pimber, of Tucson, were tuned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The drugs and vehicles were seized by Customs and Border Protection officers, according to the statement.
Customs and Border Protections officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States, the statement said. They work under the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate legal trade and travel.
