November 9, 09

NEWS / Smugglers Breach Fence, Abandon Vehicles with $1.8 Million in Marijuana

Yuma, Ariz. – U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Yuma Station seized two vehicles and more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana in a remote area of southwest Arizona early Saturday morning.


At approximately 4:30 a.m., Border Patrol agents detected the illegal entry of two vehicles approximately 13 miles east of the San Luis, Ariz., port of entry. The vehicles entered the United States through a large section of the border fence that had been cut with some type of torch.

Agents followed the tire sign north from the border and encountered a 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe driving off-road through the desert. When the driver noticed that agents had spotted him, he turned around and drove back toward the border. The driver stopped the vehicle a few yards north of the border fence and he and the passenger jumped out and ran back into Mexico. Agents then discovered several large plastic-wrapped bundles of marijuana stacked inside the Tahoe.

The second vehicle a 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe, was found abandoned and loaded with multiple bundles of marijuana about three miles north of the international boundary. After securing the vehicle and contraband, agents followed two sets of footprints that led away from the vehicle and determied that the driver and a passenger had returned to Mexico.


Agents seized 194 bundles of marijuana weighing a total of 2,302 pounds with an estimated street value of more than $1.8 million. The vehicles were transported to the Yuma Station and will be processed for seizure. The marijuana was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/11092009.xml