TUCSON: Customs and Border Protection Field Operations officers prevented two Mexican women from passing through the Port of Nogales April 13 with almost 54 pounds of cocaine, worth nearly $609,000.
Officers referred Maria Enriquez Davila, 45, and her 39-year-old passenger, Marelina Benitez Valenzuela, for a secondary inspection after a CBP narcotics-detection canine at the Mariposa crossing alerted to an odor emanating from the Subaru sedan. During the inspection, a non-intrusive x-ray scan revealed anomalies in the vehicle’s seats, which turned out to be 20 packages of cocaine.
Officers seized the drugs and vehicle, and turned the subject over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Federal law allows officers to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of charges for criminal activity without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
