A pair of 18-year-old Arizona residents have been arrested after officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection discovered nearly $2 million worth of smuggled methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin in their truck.
"We've gotten larger seizures, but this one no doubt is sizable, and it is significant," Border Patrol Agent Daniel Hernandez, a public information officer for the Tucson sector, told NBC News. "The street value is pretty high."
The drugs were intercepted after agents assigned to the Nogales Station spotted several individuals emerge from the brush near the desert north of the border, and load several packages into a parked truck near Peña Blanca Lake. The individuals departed back into the desert as the Chevy Silverado drove away.
Moments later, officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle, and 57 packages of drugs were found inside, the Border Patrol said. The total value of the narcotics was estimated to be $1,889,600.
The 18-year-old driver of the Silverado and the 18-year-old passenger were arrested and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration to face federal charges. Their names were not released by authorities.
The people who loaded the drugs onto the truck were not found, the Border Patrol said.
Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection