Border Patrol agents find $23,000 of meth in Yuma desert, arrest 2

PHOENIX — U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents found $23,000 worth of methamphetamine in the Yuma desert and arrested two men who had been backpacking nearby.

Border Patrol said in a press release Wednesday agents arrested the two Mexican nationals, 22 and 33 years of age, southeast of Wellton.

After further investigation and backtracking the pair’s footprints, authorities discovered numerous packages scattered throughout the desert.

The agents recovered more than 11 pounds of meth with an estimated street value of $23,000.

The men were processed for immigration violations, the agency said.

Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents have seen a shift from smugglers mainly backpacking marijuana through the desert to hard narcotics recently, the agency said.

The Yuma Sector covers approximately 181,260 square miles of primarily desert terrain in Arizona and California and 126 miles along the border.

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