AZMEX UPDATE 4 MAR 2016
Note: it just keeps coming.
Two speeding smuggling vehicles stopped near Stanfield
Posted: Thursday, March 3, 2016 11:31 am
Staff Reports
http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/area_news/two-speeding-smuggling-vehicles-stopped-near-stanfield/article_2ad54a4c-e16e-11e5-b743-070c0ce51be1.html
STANFIELD -- The day after a high speed chase of suspected drug smugglers through Casa Grande, authorities stopped two vehicles west of the city speeding away from Interstate 8 with bales of marijuana.
The traffic stop Wednesday night led to the arrest of five suspected smugglers, including a Maricopa resident, and the seizure of 170 pounds of marijuana, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office says.
The arrests came after Pinal County deputies stopped the vehicles near Stanfield at 10:30 p.m.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said a deputy saw the two vehicles travelling together at a high rate of speed on State Route 84 from Interstate 8. The first vehicle was stopped on Clayton Road at Amarillio Valley Road. When the car stopped, one person fled into the desert. The driver stayed with the car which was found to contain four bales of marijuana. The driver of the first car stopped was identified as Omar Garabay-Lara, 24, of Maricopa.
The second vehicle was stopped nearby on Clayton Road by a second deputy. Four persons in that car were detained without incident. The driver of the second vehicle was identified as Jesus Jimenez, an 18-year-old Tempe resident. The other three occupants of the vehicle were identified as Mexican nationals who admitted to illegally crossing the U.S./Mexico Border 10 days prior, a PCSO press release said.
"On the heels of the U.S. Border Patrol announcing they are reducing the number of Border Patrol Agents working to secure the border, we see evidence, every day right here in Pinal County, that they should be increasing their efforts to stop drug smuggling at the border, not reducing their resources," Babeu said in a statement.
Tuesday night a vehicle suspected in a drug smuggling was pursued by law enforcement through Casa Grande into Phoenix.
Two suspects were taken into custody by the Arizona Department of Public Safety at a Phoenix convenience store, and 311 pounds of marijuana was recovered from the vehicle, authorities said.
The chase began at about 9:30 p.m. on Interstate 8 near Vekol Road, west of Stanfield, after U.S. Border Patrol agents attempted to stop a Dodge SUV.
After the vehicle fled, Border Patrol asked for assistance from PCSO deputies to pursue the suspects. The chase continued along State Route 84 and eventually entered the city limits of Casa Grande before continuing north into Maricopa County.
END
Arizona border officers seize $2.8M in pot mixed with fresh squash shipment
Posted: Thursday, March 3, 2016 2:30 pm | Updated: 3:29 pm, Thu Mar 3, 2016.
Staff Reports
http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/arizona_news/arizona-border-officers-seize-m-in-pot-mixed-with-fresh/article_33ceff70-e188-11e5-a10c-9bbd4aec0510.html
NOGALES -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Mariposa Commercial Facility in Nogales, Arizona, seized $2.8 million in marijuana – approximately 5,700 pounds – from a Mexican national March1 when he attempted to enter the United States.Officers removed 240 bundles of marijuana from within a shipment of Italian squash that was referred for further agricultural inspection on Tuesday.
After an alert by a CBP narcotics-detection canine, officers found the drugs co-mingled within a shipment of Italian Squash in a tractor-trailer driven by a 45-year-old driver from Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico.Another significant seizure of marijuana was made on Tuesday at the Mariposa Commercial Facility worth $2.8M.
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 seizure comes a week after a 5,500-pound marijuana seizure at the Port of Nogales, worth an estimated $2.75M, which was identified as electronic items.
end
Ports and Border: SENTRI member from Rio Rico caught with dope
From CBP reports 4 hrs ago (0)
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/ports-and-border-sentri-member-from-rio-rico-caught-with/article_c7b99604-e198-11e5-a15e-6f36d756817b.html
Officers seized packages of meth, heroin and cocaine from a Chevrolet sedan.
Feb. 29
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Mariposa Port of Entry referred the 20-year-old driver of an Isuzu SUV for further inspection and found nearly five pounds of heroin and more than 12 pounds of meth under the rear seats. The drugs have a combined value exceeding $105,000.
• Officers at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry referred a 38-year-old driver for an additional search of his Chevrolet sedan. After a drug-sniffing dog alerted to the presence of narcotics, officers removed a combination of meth, heroin and cocaine from the vehicle's rocker panels. The haul consisted of nearly 36 pounds of meth, more than eight pounds of heroin and almost three pounds of cocaine. Combined, the drugs were valued at more than $250,000.
Feb. 27
• Border Patrol agents arrested a man near Nogales who was part of a group of five undocumented migrants. A records check revealed that he had previously been convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 in Visalia, Calif., and sentenced to six years in prison.
Feb. 24
• A 52-year-old Mexican national living in Nogales, Ariz. was arrested at the DeConcini port after officers found more than 30 pounds of methamphetamine, worth in excess of $90,000, in her Ford SUV.
Feb. 23
• A 45-year-old Rio Rico man was sent for further inspection of his Chevrolet truck when he attempted to enter the United States through the DeConcini port as cardholder in the SENTRI trusted traveler program. Officers searched the vehicle and found two packages worth about $11,700 of marijuana within the truck's bed. The man's SENTRI membership was revoked and he was turned over to federal investigators.
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