see also: in August 2007 News Releases:   Border Patrol Agents Seize Drugs at California Checkpoint   Palm Beach, Fla. Welcomes New Tool in Fighting Terror Weapons   Drug Seizure Activity at Border Ports Remains Brisk; El Paso CBP Nabs More Than 2 Tons of Pot   Yuma Border Agents Help Local Police Track 3 Fleeing Burglary Scene   CBP Officers at Laredo, Texas Entry Seize Almost $6 Million in Drugs in Two Seizures   Suspected Smuggling Lookouts Captured in Desert   1st Director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Northwest Retires ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Tucson, Ariz. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona ports of entry have been busy so far this month with 141 different enforcement actions completed involving a variety of activities, including narcotics smuggling, fugitive apprehensions, stopping deported felons from re-entering, uncovering fraudulent entry attempts and stopping agriculture smuggling attempts.

During the first 12 days of August, CBP officers have stopped 18 attempts at smuggling illegal drugs into the country, seizing 1,135 pounds of marijuana, 80 pounds of cocaine and almost two pounds of heroin. The narcotics were hidden in a variety of locations, including vehicle gas tanks, floors, doors, seats, tires and bumpers. Officers also found narcotics in a train engine, hidden in shoes, in baby formula cans, speaker boxes and even inside a woman’s bra.

Officers stopped 27 people attempting to enter the country fraudulently, including foreign nationals claiming to be U.S. citizens, using fake documents, using altered documents, even using documents belonging to other people.

Officers arrested a 48-year-old man from Araquato, Sinaloa who attempted to enter the country using counterfeit immigration documents. When the man’s identity was revealed, CBP officers discovered he had been deported after being convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He faces prosecution for attempted re-entry after deportation and is in federal custody.

Officers also arrested a 38-year-old man from Nogales, Sonora after he attempted to enter the country claiming to be a U.S. citizen. When the man’s true identity was revealed, CBP officers discovered he had been deported after multiple convictions of larceny, resisting arrest and several lesser charges. He also faces prosecution for attempted re-entry after deportation and is in federal custody.

CBP officers apprehended 39 people with both federal and state warrants for arrest on a variety of charges, including burglary, alien smuggling, parole violations, possession and sale of marijuana, identify theft and criminal impersonation, and possession with intent to distribute dangerous drugs, among others. These warrants were issued by law enforcement agencies in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and the U.S. Marshals Service.

CBP agriculture specialists stopped 33 smuggling attempts involving prohibited agricultural items and collected $7,875 in penalties. The agriculture specialists seized a variety of items, including two parakeets, pomegranates, peaches, apples, quince, mangoes, pork products, plants, soil, guava, pitaya (cactus fruit), manzano peppers and coconut seed.

CBP officers also stopped seven attempts to smuggle people into the United States, recovered three stolen vehicles, seized more than 200 rounds of .9 mm ammunition, stopped five attempts to bring personal use narcotics or medications into the country, fined one person $5,000 for fleeing the port prior to being released from inspection and uncovered five attempts to export vehicles without complying with export laws.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 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.