TEXAS: In a series of recent busts, border agents have caught smugglers accused of trying to move $139,000 worth of drugs by hiding them inside their cars.
Customs and Border Protection officers at the Port of San Luis arrested a man from Mexico and two women from Arizona. They were involved in separate drug-smuggling attempts.
In one case, officers say meth was hidden within the seats of a vehicle. They arrested Raquel Valencia River, 35, of Mesa. Thanks to a drug-sniffing dog, they found more than 22 pounds of methamphetamine in her Chrysler sedan. The stash is worth nearly $68,000.
A drug canine also alerted officers to a GMC truck belonging to Jesus Angel Sandoval-Munoz, 24, of Mexico. Officers arrested him after finding nearly 63 pounds of marijuana, worth about $31,000, in his truck’s tires.
Officers conducting an inspection of a Nissan hatchback found packages containing three pounds of heroin, valued at more than $40,000. It was found inside the purse of Maribel Vega-Carrasco, 45, of Somerton, Arizona.
Officers seized the drugs and vehicles. The suspects have been turned over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
