U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Mariposa Commercial Facility in Nogales, Arizona, seized $7.4 million in marijuana – approximately 14,800 pounds – from a Mexican national April 21 when he attempted to enter the United States.
After an alert by a CBP narcotics-detection canine, officers found the drugs co-mingled within a shipment of watermelons in a tractor-trailer driven by a 51-year-old driver from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.
Officers seized the tractor trailer and shipment. The driver was arrested and referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
The incident represents the third largest such seizure of marijuana at an Arizona port of entry.