Tucson Region

'Significant' drugs seized at border

Federal agents at the Nogales, Ariz., port of entry seized major quantities of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine from searches of three vehicles and arrested three people Wednesday, officials said. While high-quantity seizures of narcotics are unusual, Wednesday's busts are indicative of a surge in attempts to smuggle drugs other than marijuana across the border, said Roger Maier, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman. "Typically we see lots of marijuana and every now and then one of these other types of drugs mixed in, but these quantities are pretty significant," Maier said. The seized narcotics, which have a street value of about $4 million, were discovered at the port during typical searches, which are more thorough because of anti-terrorism operations by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, Maier said. Cocaine found

About 8 a.m., agents searching with a fiber-optic scope found 28 bundles of cocaine in the gas tank of a 1990 GMC pickup. The nearly 68 pounds of cocaine has an estimated value of $2.2 million, and potentially much greater value depending on how many times it is cut and distributed, especially farther from the border, Maier said. Agents arrested the truck's driver, 68-year-old Bartolo Sosa Sicairos of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora. Meth found in vehicle

A search of a 2004 Chevrolet Sonora shortly before 8 a.m. turned up nearly 44 pounds of methamphetamine, with a street value of about $1.4 million, in the radiator and wheel wells, Maier said. Agents arrested the driver, 29-year-old Marcela Zulema Rojo Verdugo of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. Heroin seized

About 3 p.m., a drug-sniffing dog alerted agents to drugs in a 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis and agents found nearly 5 pounds of heroin, with an estimated value of $160,000, in a compartment concealed in the drive shaft of the car, Maier said. The driver, 36-year-old Georgina Lopez-Martinez of Nogales, Sonora, was arrested. All of the smuggling suspects are in federal custody, each facing one count of importation of a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, Maier said.