Arizona woman arrested at checkpoint after dog sniffs out 227 pounds of meth

PHOENIX – An Arizona woman was arrested over the weekend after a Border Patrol K-9 unit sniffed out 227 pounds of meth stashed in her SUV, authorities said.

Agents turned over the 31-year-old Tucson woman, the drugs and her Toyota Sequoia to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations after the Saturday morning arrest, according to a Customs and Border Protection press release.

A drug-sniffing dog flagged the vehicle at the Interstate 19 immigration checkpoint north of Nogales around 4 a.m.

An inspection uncovered 207 packages of meth hidden in compartments throughout vehicle — in the doors, quarter panels, floor compartments and spare tire.

The confiscated drugs have an estimated value of around $200,000.

Officers also arrested three Arizona men in the past week for trying to smuggle drugs through the Port of San Luis in separate incidents, CBP announced.

Each arrest came after dogs alerted agents to vehicles entering the U.S. from Mexico. The suspects were all residents of San Luis, a border town about 23 miles south of Yuma.

Last Thursday, agents found nearly 64 pounds of meth worth around $58,000 in the speaker box of a Nissan coupe driven by a 19-year-old man.

The next afternoon, 52 pounds of meth worth around $47,000 were located in the back of a 28-year-old Ford sedan.

Then on Sunday evening, the search of a Volkswagen sedan driven by a 19-year-old man uncovered 40 packages of meth hidden throughout the car. Fifty-seven pounds of drugs with a value of around $52,000 were seized.

All of the suspects, along with their vehicles and the drugs, were turned over to ICE Homeland Security Investigations.

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