CBP seize piñatas load with marijuana

Piñatas almost always mean a party, but a party will not be in the immediate plans for one smuggler who got caught when his load of marijuana which was concealed in a truck loaded with piñatas was seized by CBP officers in Nogales, Arizona.

Officers referred Juan Marcelo Armstrong, 24, of Tucson, for additional inspection when he attempted to enter the United States Friday afternoon. After a CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs inside Armstrong’s truck, which was loaded with a shipment of assorted piñatas, officers located and removed numerous packages of marijuana.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Mariposa Port of Entry seized more than 425 pounds of marijuana posing as candy filled piñatas.

In another incident last week, officers referred Pedro de Jesus Magana-Caballero, 28, of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, for an inspection of his Chevrolet sedan. After a CBP canine alerted to the presence of drugs in Magana’s car, officers removed a package of methamphetamine from the oil pan.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Mariposa Port of Entry seized more than 7 pounds of methamphetamine posing as oil.

The drugs and vehicles from both cases were processed for seizure. Armstrong and Magana were arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.