see also: in March 2007 News Releases:   SBInet Completes Test of First Mobile Sensor Tower   Nogales Border Patrol Seizes 6 Tons of Marijuana from Garbage Truck   El Paso CBP Officers Make Largest Drug Bust In 2 Years   CBP Seizes $709,291 in Undeclared Currency at Laredo Port of Entry   Border Patrol Seizes $13 Million in Cocaine Near Hidalgo, Texas   El Paso CBP Offers Tips For Quick, Safe Easter Holiday Border Crossings   Border Patrol Assists Man Bitten by Snake ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Andrade, Calif. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers conducting border security operations at the Andrade port of entry arrested two male U.S. citizens and seized almost 1,000 pounds of marijuana Sunday evening, March 25, officials announced today.

CBP officers encountered the two men when they came through the border station at about 7:30 p.m. in a 2006 Chevrolet pickup truck pulling a trailer. Officers directed the vehicle and passengers for a more in-depth investigation where systems checks revealed the driver had a warrant for his arrest. During the secondary examination, officers utilized a narcotic detector dog to screen the vehicle that alerted to the back wall of the trailer.

Officers subsequently found a false compartment in the back wall of the trailer that contained 70 wrapped bundles of the narcotic weighing 934 pounds and valued at about $500,000, officials said.

The 45-year old driver and the 27-year old passenger, both from San Diego, were arrested by special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and transported to the Imperial County jail to await arraignment in district court on drug smuggling charges. The conveyance and narcotics were seized by CBP. The case remains under investigation.

The last large marijuana seizure at Andrade occurred on February 11. CBP officers arrested two U.S. males after they entered the port at about 4:30 p.m. in a pickup truck towing a trailer with almost 3,000 pounds of marijuana hidden in a front wall compartment.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.