Customs and Border Protection

Border agents seize $1.9M in pot, $200k in meth

CBP officers find drugs hidden among produce, in dash of car

Posted May 12, 2012

Janet Rose Jackman
TucsonSentinel.com

U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionU.S. Customs and Border Protection found 1 ton of marijuana hidden among Persian limes bound for the United States on Monday.
U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionCBP officers arrested a 46-year-old woman Tuesday who is accused of having $205,000 worth of meth hidden in the dashboard of her vehicle.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized $1.9 million in marijuana hidden among produce Monday and arrested a 46-year-old Mexican woman Tuesday, who was accused of trying to smuggle $200,000 worth of methamphetamine through the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, CBP said.

A 38-year-old man driving a tractor trailer with bell peppers aboard was referred for secondary inspection of the load Monday. CBP officers found 224 bundles of marijuana, weighing nearly 1,700 pounds, hidden in the shipment, CBP said.

Later on Monday, officers found more than 1 ton of marijuana hidden in a load of Persian limes being transported in a tractor trailer into the United States, CBP said.

The drugs in both cases were seized for processing and the two drivers were arrested and turned over to ICE's Homeland Security Investigations, CBP said.

On Tuesday, Officers working at the Mariposa Port directed a driver for secondary inspection of her vehicle after a canine unit was alerted to possible drugs, CBP said

Officers arrested the driver after 14 packages of methamphetamine, weighing more than 13 pounds, were found hidden in the vehicle's dashboard, CPB said.

The drugs, worth $205,000, and the vehicle were seized. The woman was arrested and turned over to ICE's Homeland Security Investigations, CBP said.