KEY POINTS

  • Two 18-year-olds were taken into custody for attempting to smuggle illegal drugs 
  • The arrest was made over the weekend by the United States Customs and Border Protection
  • It came after agents noticed people emerging from a brush and loading a truck with packages
  • The truck was stopped and agents discovered 57 packages of meth, heroin and cocaine
  • The CBP estimated the drugs to value at around $2 million 

The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested two Arizona teens and confiscated nearly $2 million worth of illegal drugs inside their truck over the weekend.

The teens, which were only identified as 18-year-old residents of Rio Rico, were taken into custody on August 15 after Border Patrol agents assigned to the Nogales Station noticed several people emerging from the brush and loaded packages into a truck that was parked near Peña Blanca Lake.

After the truck was loaded, the individuals went back to the desert while the vehicle drove away, said the CBP in a statement.

US Border Patrol agents in Texas are responsible for hundreds of miles of terrain and use everything from drug-sniffing dogs to cameras in their patrols
US Border Patrol agents in Texas are responsible for hundreds of miles of terrain and use everything from drug-sniffing dogs to cameras in their patrols AFP / Paul Ratje

The truck, which was described by the agency as a red Chevrolet Silverado, was stopped by agents shortly after it departed. It was here that agents discovered 57 packages of suspected meth, heroin and cocaine. The CBP estimated the seized narcotics to be around $1,889,600 in street value.

“We've gotten larger seizures, but this one no doubt is sizable and it is significant. The street value is pretty high,” said Border Patrol Agent Daniel Hernandez, according to NBC News.

The names of the truck driver and passenger were not released, but CBP said they were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the confiscated drugs. The teenagers will face federal charges, the agency added.

The people who came out from the brush and loaded the truck were not found.

Hernandez told NBC News that it is common for people on foot to travel from Mexico and into the United States. They usually course through mountainous or remote terrain, drop off illegal drugs and make their way back.

These people are usually hired by “transitional criminal organizations,” while the area of the border where the teens were arrested is notorious for being a “marijuana corridor.”

“That is declining and now we're seeing with greater frequency harder narcotics and synthetic narcotics,” added Hernandez, who also serves as Tucson sector's public information officer.

NBC News also detailed a 2019 report from the DEA, pointing out that Mexico is the primary source of Fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana, while the Mexican transitional criminal organization (TCO) remains to be the United States' “greatest criminal drug threat.”

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