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Posted Nov 10, 2016, 11:59 am

Paul Ingram TucsonSentinel.com

In the first seven days of November, Nogales-area Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than $1 million in hard drugs and arrested seven people, including two U.S. citizens, authorities said. 

On Nov. 1, a drug dog at the Dennis DeConcini crossing led CBP officers to discover more than 20 pounds of methamphetamine, worth more than $60,000, in a Chevy sedan driven by a 22-year-old woman from Phoenix, said Rob Daniels, a CBP spokesman. 

Later that day, officers at the Mariposa crossing arrested a 64-year-old Mexican man from Magdalena, Sonora, after they found 37 pounds of cocaine worth more than $418,000 in his Mazda sedan, Daniels said. 

On Nov. 3, officers at the Mariposa crossing arrested a U.S. citizen, identified only as 20-year-old woman from Rico Rico, after a drug dog led them to discover 23 pounds of meth in the front bumper of her Ford Sedan, Daniels said. That stash was worth more than $70,000, he said.

On Saturday, a drug dog at the same crossing alerted to the presence of 38 pounds of meth worth an estimated $113,000 hidden in a Toyota sedan. The driver, identified only as a 28-year-old woman from Mesa, was arrested, said Daniels. 

On Sunday, a drug dog again led officers to a meth stash, as officers found nearly 10 pounds of the drug, worth close to $29,000, hidden in the muffler of a Nissan sedan driven by a 29-year-old Mexican national from Nogales, Sonora. 

Later that day, officers at the nearby DeConcini crossing seized more than 29 pounds of cocaine, worth more than $330,000, in the front and rear bumpers of a Nissan sedan. The driver, a 30-year-old Mexican woman from Nogales, Sonora, was arrested, Daniels said. 

Nearby, officers at the Mariposa crossing arrested a 25-year old woman from Nogales, Sonora, after officers found 12 pounds of meth worth nearly $35,000 beneath of the front seats of her Jeep SUV. 

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CBP officers seized the drugs and vehicles and handed over those arrested to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Daniels said.