Border Patrol seizes largest amount of meth to date

Border Patrol agents from the Wellton station arrested two women early Saturday afternoon in the largest methamphetamine smuggling attempt intercepted in the Yuma Sector.

The two women were caught trying to smuggle nearly 50 pounds of the dangerous drug through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 8 near Dateland.

"To intercept this much methamphetamine in a single seizure is an amazing accomplishment," said agent Shaun Kuzia, a spokesman for the Yuma Sector.

According to Kuzia, the women, who were traveling east, approached the checkpoint’s primary inspection area at about 2 p.m. in a 2002 Isuzu Trooper sport utility vehicle.

During primary inspection, Kuzia said a Border Patrol canine team alerted to the rear of the SUV, indicating the possibility of hidden persons or contraband inside the vehicle.

Kuzia said during a closer examination of the SUV, agents found an access panel on the floor of the vehicle above the gas tank.

The methamphetamine was located inside the gas tank. In all, Kuzia said agents recovered 37 small packages of the drugs, which weighed 46.9 pounds and had an approximate street value of $1,125,600.

The driver and passenger were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the methamphetamine. The Border Patrol seized the Isuzu Trooper.

Both women, ages 18 and 19, also had their small children in the vehicle. The children, who were riding in the backseat of the vehicle, were turned over to their respective fathers. The ages of the children were not available.

In addition to being the largest single seizure of methamphetamine in Yuma Sector history, Saturday’s seizure surpassed the 35.36 pounds of meth seized in all of 2009 in Yuma Sector.

Kuzia said he searched statistics dating back to 2000, and the agency seized more meth in this one stop than it did in total for any of the previous years.

"We went back and looked because this was such a large seizure," Kuzia said.

As part of the Border Patrol’s defense-in-depth enforcement approach, Kuzia said checkpoint operations serve as a valuable tool to prevent the smuggling of humans, drugs and other contraband into the country.

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