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Press Release - Customs and Border Protection
10/21/04U.S. Border Patrol Interdicts over 2 tons of Marijuana 1.7 tons hidden in "Arrowhead" water truck
Tucson, AZ -- On October 20, 2004, Border Patrol agents assigned to the Nogales Station seized over two tons of marijuana in three separate incidents. Yesterday, at approximately 10:00 a.m., agents received information on an Arrowhead water truck that had illegally driven through the International Boundary near Buena Vista Ranch in Kino Springs. The agents performed a vehicle stop on the truck at the intersection of State Route 82 and North River Road. While the agents were questioning the driver, they noticed that the frame of the vehicle had been tampered with, indicating a possible hidden compartment. They requested the assistance of a Border Patrol K-9, who alerted to the possibility of narcotics in the truck. The driver and the truck were transported to the Nogales Border Patrol Station for further inspection.
At the station, agents performed a search of the vehicle and found a hidden compartment located in the center of the cargo area. The rack where the water bottles sit had been altered so that drugs could be hidden inside. Inside the compartment agents found 258 of marijuana, totaling 3,635 pounds, which has an estimated value of over $2.9 million. This is the largest drug seizure for Tucson Sector this year.
The driver, a United States Citizen, was arrested on scene and later turned over to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. The vehicle and the marijuana were also remanded to the DEA. An investigation is still ongoing to determine the authenticity of the truck.
This is not the first time smugglers have used vehicles made to look like legitimate business. Last Fiscal Year (10/01/03-09/30/04) agents in the Tucson Sector interdicted 6 vehicles made over to look legitimate, which had smuggled both drugs and illegal aliens.
At 7:30 p.m., Nogales agents, along with a Border Patrol K-9, were conducting a search near the Noon Ranch, outside of Nogales, when the K-9 alerted to thee bundles of marijuana in the brush. There were no suspects around. The marijuana totaled 101 pounds.
At 8:30 p.m., agents observed a suspicious vehicle near the Santa Cruz Center for the Blind in Nogales, AZ. The vehicle left the area, and an agent conducted a search with his K-9 in the area where the vehicle had been. The agent found 37 bundles of marijuana, totaling 604 pounds. In Tucson Sector since the beginning of the new Fiscal Year (10/01/04), through yesterday, agents have already interdicted over 21,900 pounds of marijuana, worth over $17.5 million. Last Fiscal Year, agents in Tucson Sector had seized 446,962 pounds of marijuana.
The Border Patrol is a division of the U.S Customs and Border Protection, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for managing and securing our nation's borders.
- CBP -
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