CBP Officers Seize Meth Worth Over Quarter Million Dollars

San Luis, Ariz. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Tucson Field Office arrested a man yesterday accused of attempting to smuggle approximately $260,000 worth of methamphetamine into the United States. 

Officers at the San Luis Port referred the driver, a 22-year-old Mexican national, and his two passengers for a secondary inspection of their Ford sedan. After a CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs, officers used a non-intrusive x-ray scan on the vehicle and located 19 packages of methamphetamine weighing nearly 17 pounds. The vehicle and drugs were processed for seizure. All three subjects were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Individuals arrested may be charged with a criminal complaint, which raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt

CBP's Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Homeland Security tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.