Five people were arrested at the immigration checkpoint on Interstate 19 after border patrol agents discovered methamphetamine in one vehicle and two illegal aliens in another.
According to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection media release, Tucson sector border patrol agents found approximately 44 pounds of methamphetamine worth an estimated $132,000 in a 1996 Ford Taurus before 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
Both the driver of this vehicle, a 35-year-old permanent resident cardholder from Mexico, and the passenger, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, were arrested by border patrol agents for smuggling narcotics, according to CBP.
Later that day, border patrol agents performed a secondary inspection of a 2016 Ford Fiesta after a canine alerted to an odor it was trained to detect. According to CBP, agents found two men hiding in the trunk of the car.
The driver, a 20-year-old Tucson woman, was arrested for human smuggling.
The two men who were hiding in the trunk, ages 20 and 34, were identified as Mexican nationals and were arrested. According to CBP, the men are being processed for immigration violations.
