Oct. 2 (UPI) — Border agents say an 18-year-old was caught trying to smuggle more than 175 pounds of narcotics valued at $1 million into the United States at the San Luis port of entry in Arizona on Saturday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stopped the teen, who is a U.S. citizen, at 10:30 p.m. Saturday when he attempted to cross into the United States while driving a Chevrolet SUV.
The CBP said it used non-invasive technology and a canine unit to detect the more than 175 pounds of hard narcotics hidden in the vehicle.
“This is a method of smuggling that we continue to encounter with narcotic traffickers utilizing teenagers to smuggle dangerous drugs,” San Luis Area Port Director Chris Leon said in a news release announcing the drug seizure.
Agents said that the technology used to screen the vehicle showed several anomalies in the vehicle, which the canine unit indicated contained drugs.
The CBP officers said they conducted an extensive search of the vehicle and extracted 140 packages of hard narcotics that were hidden within the doors, quarter panels and the vehicle’s flooring.
Three packages contained more than 7 pounds of fentanyl powder. Another 27 packages contained almost 61 pounds of blue fentanyl pills, and 110 packages contained 107.5 pounds of methamphetamine, according to the CBP.
The seized narcotics have an estimated street value of more than $1 million, the CBP said.
The CBP officers turned over the teenage driver to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit. He is presumed innocent until convicted in a U.S. court.
San Luis is located on the U.S.-Mexico border about 200 miles southwest of Phoenix.
The CBP in late September also intercepted a drug shipment at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
CBP officers said they noticed a motorized wheelchair had especially large cushions and subjected it to an X-ray examination.
The X-ray showed a custom-made metal compartment that contained 11 packages, which a canine unit confirmed contained drugs.
Subsequent testing showed the substance was cocaine hydrochloride.
The CBP did not indicate any arrests were made in the Houston smuggling incident.
