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By Miriam Raftery
February 1, 2019 (Tucson) – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Port of Nogales in Arizona seized nearly 650 pounds of fentanyl and methamphetamines worth close to $4.6 million last Saturday—the largest fentanyl seizure in CBP history nationwide.
The drugs were found by a drug-sniffing dog in a vehicle attempting to cross into the U.S. through a port of entry. Though President Donald Trump has called for a border wall in part to keep out harmful drugs, a wall would not prevent the vast majority of drugs smuggled in through ports of entry.
The truck, driven by a 26-year-old Mexican national, had over 400 packages of drugs hidden in a floor compartment beneath a trailer filled with cucumbers.
Nogales Area Port Director Michael Humphries praised his staff for their dedication in making the record-breaking drug seizure and arrest made during the government shutdown, when agents were unpaid. “Opioids pose a real danger to every community in America and are having fatal consequences across our nation,” he said. “This past weekend our CBP officers were able to stop an enormous amount of these deadly narcotics from hitting our streets.”
The driver of the vehicle was arrested and turned over to Homeland Security Investigations. He is charged him with two counts of possession with intent to distribute and is currently in federal custody.
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Fentanyl