TUCSON: Customs and Border Protection officers at the Raul Hector Castro Port of Entry in Douglas, Arizona arrested three Mexican nationals during separate weekend incidents involving attempts to smuggle almost 480 pounds of marijuana into the United States.CBP officers discovered packages of marijuana throughout a smuggling vehicle referred for secondary inspection
Officers on May 6 referred a 23-year-old female Mexican national from neighboring Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, for a secondary inspection of her Isuzu SUV. During the inspection, a CBP narcotics-detection canine alert led officers to discover more than 200 packages of marijuana, weighing nearly 277 pounds and worth more than $138,000.More than 132 pounds of marijuana were seized by officers at the Port of Douglas on May 6
Later in the day, officers referred a 24-year-old female Mexican national from Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, for secondary questioning. During a search of the woman’s Chevrolet sedan, officers found more than 132 pounds of marijuana worth in excess of $66,000.
On May 8, a narcotics-detection canine helped officers locate more than 70 pounds of marijuana, valued in excess of $35,000, in a Ford sedan driven by a 30-year-old man from Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico.
Officers seized the vehicles and drugs, and turned the subjects over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
