Nogales CBP Officers Seize $740K in Meth, Heroin

TUCSON, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested two Mexican men for their separate alleged attempts to smuggle a combined 193 pounds of heroin and methamphetamine through the Port of Nogales over the weekend.Officers at the Nogales Commercial Facility located and seized nearly 155 pounds of meth within the rear doors of a tractor trailer

Officers at the Nogales Commercial Facility referred Sinuel Gonzalez-Dominguez, 34, of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, for further inspection of the tractor-trailer load of cucumbers he was transporting through the port on Dec. 18. After a drug alert by a CBP narcotics-detection canine, officers searched the cucumber shipment and found nearly 155 pounds of meth, worth almost $465,000, within the trailer’s rear doors.Drug smugglers attempted to smuggle meth and heroin within a hidden compartment in the floor between the seats of a truck referred for further inspection at the DeConcini crossing

On Dec. 20, officers at the Dennis DeConcini crossing referred Edwin Elevier Lara-Ruiz, 20, of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, for further inspection of the Dodge truck he was driving. After a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs within the vehicle, officers found more than 23 pounds of meth, worth nearly $70,000, and close to 15 pounds of heroin, valued at almost $206,000.