A Mexican man was arrested Wednesday at the Nogales commercial facility for attempting to smuggle nearly 7,400 pounds of marijuana into the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers referred Cuauhtemoc Lopez-Cabrera, 30, of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, for additional inspection of the Freightliner tractor-trailer he was driving. After a CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs co-mingled within a shipment of tomatoes, officers found 315 bales of marijuana worth an estimated $3,699,000. The drugs and tractor-trailer were processed for seizure. Lopez was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
“CBP officers in Nogales made use of several layers of enforcement to identify and locate the marijuana,” said Nogales Port Director Guadalupe Ramirez. “Experience and dedication of our personnel work as a containment net to prevent these drugs from entering our nation.”