PRESIDIO: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations officers working at the Presidio port of entry seized 137 pounds of marijuana Saturday evening. The narcotics were found in the fuel tank of a 2001 Toyota Sequoia.
The seizure was made at 10:45 p.m. when a 25-year-old Mexican female driver with two female passengers made entry through vehicle primary. After questioning by the primary CBP officer the vehicle was sent to secondary for further inspection. In secondary CBP narcotics/concealment human detector dog “Indi” conducted a sweep of the vehicle resulting in a positive alert to the presence of narcotic odor. A Z-Portal x-ray scan was conducted revealing anomalies in the fuel tank. The fuel tank was drained and a fiber-optic scope revealed metal boxes inside the tank.Drug bundles removed from fuel tank
The tank was dropped and a sample of the material in a metal box tested positive for the properties of marijuana. Sixteen boxes were removed from the tank containing a total of 137 pounds of marijuana.
“Narcotic detection dogs play a vital role in our inspection process,” said John Deputy, CBP Presidio Port Director. “The presence of our canine partners at the port not only assist in the discovery of narcotics, but also act as a deterrent to anyone considering smuggling drugs through the port.”
The driver who is from Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement HSI agents in connection with the failed smuggling attempt. The passengers were released.
While anti-terrorism is the primary mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the inspection process at the ports of entry associated with this mission results in impressive numbers of enforcement actions in all categories.
