BP agents seize over a ton of marijuana

U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Yuma Station seized two vehicles and more than a ton of marijuana in a remote area of southwest Arizona early Saturday morning.

According to agent Shaun R. Kuzia, a spokesman for the Yuma Sector, at about 4:30 a.m., Border Patrol agents detected the illegal entry of two vehicles approximately 13 miles east of the U.S. Port of Entry at San Luis, Ariz.

 He said the vehicles entered the country through a large section of the border fence that had been cut with some type of torch.

"Sometimes they use a saw, sometimes they use a torch to cut it," Kuzia said. "In this instance they were able to cut the fence, lift it up and drive underneath it."

Kuzia said an operator using a mobile surveillance system spotted the heat from the torches on thermal imaging and notified agents in the area.

Agents responded to the area and followed tire tracks north from the border, and within minutes encountered a 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe driving off-road through the desert.

"They didn't get very far," Kuzia said. "Agents were able to get right on top of them."

Kuzia said when the driver noticed that agents had spotted him, he turned around and drove back toward the border, stopping the vehicle a few yards north of the border fence.

The driver and passenger jumped out and were able to run back into Mexico before they could be apprehended, Kuzia said. Agents then discovered several large plastic-wrapped bundles of marijuana stacked inside the Tahoe.

The second vehicle, a 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe, was found abandoned and loaded with multiple bundles of marijuana about three miles north of the international boundary.

"It looked like the vehicle hit a rock or something and completely shredded the tire," Kuzia said. "They couldn't drive it anymore."

Kuzia said after securing the vehicle, agents followed two sets of footprints that led away from the vehicle and determined that the driver and a passenger had returned to Mexico.

Agents seized 194 bundles of marijuana weighing a total of 2,302 pounds with an estimated street value of more than $1.8 million. 

The vehicles were transported to the Yuma Station and will be processed for seizure. The marijuana was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.