Four tons of pot, 62 illegal entrants found in separate Border Patrol busts

Four tons of pot, 62 illegal entrants found in separate Border Patrol busts

By Dale Quinn

Arizona Daily Star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.29.2008

U.S. Border Patrol agents raided a Rio Rico drop house Thursday and detained 62 illegal entrants. And in separate incidents since Wednesday evening, Border Patrol agents in the Tucson Sector seized more than four tons of marijuana, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection press release.

The drop house raid began when agents stopped a vehicle near Rio Rico, which is about 60 miles south of Tucson, a press release says. Five illegal entrants were arrested in the vehicle stop and when agents questioned the smuggler, they learned about a large number of illegal border crossers at a nearby house.

Agents went to the residence and knocked on the door, a man answered and said the agents could enter, the release says. Sixty-two illegal entrants were found in the two-bedroom residence, which was described in the press release as unhealthy and unsafe.

All 62 people were determined to be Mexican citizens illegally in the United States. Four of the illegal entrants will be held for human smuggling, according to the release.

The drug seizures started Wednesday evening when agents found an abandoned vehicle north of the village of Kaka on the Tohono O’odham Nation, according to a press release. The sport utility vehicle was partially covered with loose brush and agents found 104 bundles of marijuana weighing more than 2,200 pounds inside.

The Tohono O’odham Police Department was notified and the drugs were turned over the Drug Enforcement Administration, the release says.

In another seizure the next day, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent notified the Border Patrol agents at the Interstate 19 checkpoint of a tractor trailer that could be hauling marijuana. A drug-sniffing dog than led agents to further search a tractor-trailer matching the description provided by the ICE agent.

Inside the agents found 62 bundles of marijuana weighing more than 1,400 pounds. The driver, a Mexican citizen legally in the United States, was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Later that night, a drug sniffing dog at the I-19 checkpoint again led agents to further search a tractor trailer. In that truck were pallets of marijuana.

According to the press release, about 4,400 pounds of marijuana in 187 bundles was seized and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The driver, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Mexico, was being held by the DEA for prosecution.

In another seizure, a drug-sniffing dog at a checkpoint on Arizona 82 near Sonoita led agents to further search a Dodge truck. Inside that truck agents found a false compartment with 16 bundles of marijuana weighing more than 200 pounds.

The driver of the truck and its passenger, both U.S. citizens, were taken into custody on suspicion of narcotics smuggling.