NEW YORK: U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested three alleged smugglers with over $484,000 worth of drugs at the Port of Nogales over the weekend.
On Saturday, Aug. 8, 38-year-old Onexy Martinez-Meza was taken into custody after a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted the officers at the Dennis Deconcini crossing of more than 16 pounds concealed in the backseat of the Phoenix resident’s Mazda. The drugs had an estimated value of $231,000.
Later that day at the same crossing, 35-year-old Guadalupe Arredondo-Flores was apprehended after a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted the officers to a rear quarter panel of the Nogales, Sonora’s Ford SUV.
The next day, Aug. 8, the officers arrested Dixie, Wash. Resident, Nathan Smith, after they found nearly $112,000 worth of heroin concealed in the transmission of his Dodge station wagon.
The narcotics and the vehicles were processed for seizure. The suspects were referred to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
