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Hourly Update

Mexican charter tour bus busted carrying dope through port

By Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.19.2007
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found nearly 1,600 pounds of marijuana inside a charter tour bus Thursday morning at the Dennis DeConcini port of entry in Nogales.
Suspicions were raised during the questioning of the driver and revision of its paperwork as it tried to come through the downtown Nogales port of entry at 2 a.m. Thursday, said Brian Levin, Customs and Border Protection spokesman.
During a subsequent inspection, an agency narcotics detector dog alerted agents to the odor of drugs coming from the interior of the bus and a vehicle X-ray system also showed abnormalities in the bus’ structure.
Officers inspected the bus and discovered an access hatch to a compartment in the rear of the bus, Levin said. Inside, they found 179 bundles of marijuana weighing a total of 1,577 pounds, he said.
The 1,577 pounds of marijuana has an estimated value of $906,775, according to figures from the National Drug Intelligence Center.
The bus was a Mexican charter carrying 15 people in route to Phoenix, Levin said. Five — three men and two women, all Mexican citizens — were arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he said. The other eight were allowed to continue on their travels but the bus stayed at the port.
It has been many years since officers found a large load of marijuana in a charter bus, Levin said. “It tells us that the drug trafficking organizations are tying to use a variety of ways to do this,” Levin said. “They are looking for the appearance of normalcy and legitimacy. They are trying not to stand out.”
Officers also stopped two attempts to smuggle cocaine through the Dennis DeConcini port of entry this week. On Wednesday, officers found 25 pounds of cocaine inside a compartment built into a 1996 Ford Thunderbird driven by a 47-year-old man from Nogales, Sonora.
On Thursday, officers discovered 37 pounds of cocaine inside the quarter panels of a vehicle driven by a 26-year-old woman from Nogales, Sonora, Levin said. Both were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The 62 pounds of cocaine has an estimated value of $435,922, according to figures from the National Drug Intelligence Center.
Reporter Dale Quinn contributed to this article. Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com.
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