Border Patrol seizes nearly 1 ton of pot

Load found in abandoned vehicle west of Tucson

Posted Jun 20, 2011

Janet Rose Jackman
TucsonSentinel.com

Customs and Border ProtectionU.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seized 149 bundles of marijuana, weighing 1,935 pounds with a street value of $967,500 on Sunday in an abandoned vehicle west of Tucson.

Border Patrol agents seized nearly a ton of marijuana from an abandoned vehicle west of Tucson on Sunday.

The pot, worth $967,500 was found after agents assigned to monitor the Ajo Station Surveillance System saw a suspicious vehicle traveling east through the desert near the agency's Papago Forward Operating Base, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Agents on all-terrain vehicles found an SUV abandoned in the desert that was loaded with 149 bundles of marijuana weighing 1,935 pounds.

In other activity in the Tucson Sector over the past four days, provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection:

Arrests

Ajo Station agents apprehended six illegal immigrants Friday east of Lukeville using remote video surveillance equipment, a Border Patrol helicopter and the aid of the National Guard. One of the men was seen trying to discard a handgun. The man was expected to be turned over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms for further investigation. The other five were held for prosecution.
On Saturday, Ajo Station agents apprehended an illegal immigrant from Jalisco, Mexico, who admitted to having been a member of the Mara Salvatrucha street gang. A background check using the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System found he had a misdemeanor conviction for trespassing in Oakland, Calif. The subject was being prosecuted for illegal entry.
Also on Saturday, agents from the Casa Grande Station apprehended an illegal immigrant from Guatemala and found the suspect was a sex offender with a conviction in 2009 for rape. He was held for prosecution.
Border Patrol agents working at the checkpoint on S.R. 286 on Sunday discovered two men hiding in the back of a vehicle after the it was pulled over for a secondary inspection. Agents found a handgun in the vehicle. The men, both illegal immigrants from Mexico, were being processed for deportation and the vehicle and weapon were seized.
Also on Sunday, Ajo Station agents apprehended an illegal immigrant from Mexico who admitted to being a member of the Mara Salvatrucha street gang. An IAFIS check found the man had four prior convictions for drug-related offenses in California. He was being prosecuted for re-entry of an aggravated felon.