TUCSON: US Customs and Border Protection officers conducted a joint operation at Port of San Luis and seized more than 132 pounds of methamphetamine and heroin.
Officers referred Janet Esmeralda Soria-Caravantes, 24, of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico for further inspection of her Honda SUV. After a CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs beneath the back seats, officers removed 14 packages of meth weighing more than 22 pounds and worth nearly $68,000.
Earlier that day, officers arrested Abraham Ruvalcaba-Zepeda, 21, of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico after a service canine alerted officers to nearly 21 pounds of meth, worth almost $63,000, under the rear seats of a sedan he was driving.
Officers arrested Cesar Linarez-Pimental, a 43-year-old Mexican national on Dec. 12 after a canine alerted to the tailgate of his truck and officers found 30 packages of meth – more than 31 pounds – valued at just over $94,000.
Miguel Anjel Lugo-Sanchez, a 56-year-old Mexican national living legally in Somerton, Arizona, was arrested after a canine alerted to more than $157,000 worth of meth and $71,000 worth of heroin throughout the vehicle.
Officers seized all drugs and vehicles involved, and turned the subjects over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.
