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According to the Department of Homeland Security, a 67-year-old man tried to bring 51 pounds of crystal meth across the U.S./Mexico border yesterday.
Easy, border hawks — he’s a United States citizen.
DHS says the suspect, who the agency hasn’t identified, was stopped at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry near Nogales and asked to submit to a secondary search of his vehicle.
During the second search of the man’s Chevy SUV, Customs and Border Patrol agents found 35 packages of meth in the “roof area” of the vehicle.
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DHS says the 51 pounds of meth has an estimated street value of roughly $790,000.
“A primary CBP officer’s inspection was instrumental in the discovery of these dangerous narcotics. I congratulate Nogales CBP officers for an outstanding seizure and arrest, and for stopping these drugs from entering our country,” Guadalupe Ramirez, CBP port director in Nogales, says in a statement.
The suspect was taken into custody and transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation.
The meth and the vehicle were seized by DHS.
We contacted DHS spokesman Joe Agosttini for additional details of the bust. He didn’t immediately get back to us.
