WASHINGTON: A woman was arrested after she allegedly attempted to cross more than 200 pounds of marijuana hidden in a van at the Ysleta Port of Entry on Saturday.
Claudia Ibeth Arras Quintana, 35, was driving a 2004 Nissan Quest across the Ysleta Port of Entry at about 2 p.m. when US Customs and Border Protection officers began searching her vehicle, officials said. Officers allegedly found tape-wrapped bundles of marijuana in the spare tire well, officials said. The vehicle was then taken to secondary inspection.
CBP drug-sniffing dog Pele searched the vehicle and alerted officers to the possible presence of drugs hidden in the van, CBP officials said. Officers then x-rayed the van and allegedly found several anomalies in the vehicle.
US Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 200 pounds of marijuana hidden in a van at the Ysleta Port of Entry on Saturday. (Photo: Courtesy US Customs and Border Protection)
Officers allegedly found 205 marijuana-filled bundles in the spare tire well, rear doors, quarter panels and seats, officials said. The bundles allegedly contained about 224 pounds of marijuana, officials said.
“This seizure is larger than most we are currently seeing in passenger vehicles,” acting CBP El Paso Port Director Severiano Solis said in a statement. “Smugglers will generally confine contraband in a single location. In this case it was all over the vehicle.”
Arras Quintana, of Chihuahua, Mexico, was detained by CBP officers and turned over to US Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents.
She was booked into the El Paso County jail and is facing federal charges in connection with the alleged failed drug smuggling attempt, officials said.
