U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona Seize More Than $1 Million in Drugs

The cocaine weighs 27 pounds and has an estimated street valued of $889,000.

Blythe Station Border Patrol agents seized 27 pounds of cocaine in a wheel well at the Highway 95 checkpoint south of Quartzsite, Ariz. on Tuesday. Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Patrol

(Yuma, Ariz.) - U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Yuma Sector seized more than $1 million of marijuana and cocaine, and arrested three drug smugglers in two separate incidents this week.

Blythe Station Border Patrol agents seized 27 pounds of cocaine in a wheel well at the Highway 95 checkpoint south of Quartzsite, Ariz. on Tuesday.

The first incident occurred on Tuesday morning at the Highway 95 checkpoint south of Quartzsite, Ariz. Border Patrol agents from the Blythe Station referred a 1991 Lexus 400 for secondary inspection. With the help of a Border Patrol canine team, agents discovered 12 bundles of cocaine hidden behind the vehicle’s firewall and wheel well. The cocaine weighs 27 pounds and has an estimated street valued of $889,000. Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) took custody of the cocaine and driver, and the Border Patrol seized the Lexus.

On Wednesday, Yuma Sector Enforcement Specialists operating remote video surveillance cameras located along the Colorado River spotted 13 individuals crossing the river from Mexico into Arizona near County 10th Street. The camera operators notified agents in the field that the subjects dropped several large backpacks near the Arizona banks and then fled back into Mexico. Yuma Station Border Patrol agents responded and seized 12 makeshift backpacks full of marijuana and arrested two male subjects hiding nearby. The 12 bundles, which weigh 580 pounds and have an estimated street value of $464,000, were turned over to the DEA along with the two subjects.