U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Yuma Sector seized more than $1 million dollars of heroin at a Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 95, north of Yuma, Arizona on Thursday.
Border Patrol agents assigned to the Blythe station encountered an 18-year-old woman driving a convertible at the primary inspection area of the checkpoint. A canine team conducted a cursory inspection and alerted to the vehicle. Agents investigated and discovered a false compartment in the vehicle that contained 11 bundles of heroin. The 11 bundles of heroin, with a combined weight of 30 pounds, have an estimated street value of $1,024,500. The heroin, the subject and the vehicle were all turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Yuma is seven miles from Los Algodones, Mexico’s northernmost town and a popular destination to buy Mexican crafts and find inexpensive pharmacies. Yuma is also the birth place of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez and home to 45,000 Hispanics, representing 50% of the town’s populations. Yuma continues to face high-levels of crime and illegal immigration though those rates are lower than last year. Yuma is most concerned about an isolated 450 acre region called Hunter’s Hole, a haven for drug smugglers and illegal immigrant crossings. The town is seeking permission to build a natural water barrier or moat between it and Mexico to deter the drug smuggling that occurred this week. The concept is endorsed by the federal Bureau of Land Management and the Mexican government.
