Las Cruces man accused of smuggling load of cocaine; heroin seized in separate bust
Border officers used and X-ray system , and with the help of a drug-sniffing dog, found more than 11 pounds of heroin in side the door panel of a mini-van.
The drugs, which officials said had a street value of $360,000, were discovered about 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bridge of the Americas.
After an initial interview with the driver, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office officers ordered a second inspection of the van. Officers scanned the vehicle with the Z-portal X-ray system, which alerted them to a an anomaly in the driver side rear door. A CBP drug sniffing dog also alerted officers to the same door. CBP officers removed the door panel and located six bricks of heroin weighing a total 11.25 pounds.
“More than 11 pounds of heroin is significant,” CBP El Paso Port Director Beverly Good said in a news release. “This seizure represents more than 5,000 street level one-gram sales of this dangerous drug.”
CBP officers arrested 46-year-old Armando Manzo Torres of Durango, Mexico. He was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations special agents to face smuggling charges.
On Friday, border officers seized $435,000 worth or cocaine at the Columbus, N.M. port of entry.
CBP officers said a Las Cruces man was crossing into the U.S. and was bringing two boxes of joint cement.
Officers searched the containers and found packages with black wrapping submerged in the cement. In them, CBP officers said, were five bundles containing 13.6 pounds cocaine.
“This is the first multi-pound cocaine load seized at the Columbus port of entry in more than four years,” CBP Columbus Port Director Robert Reza said in a sepaate news release. “We have made smaller personal use sized cocaine seizures over the years however the last large cocaine seizure at the port was in August 2010 when CBP officers intercepted a five-pound load.”
Sixty-year-old Oscar D. Stella of Las Cruces was arrested and turned over to federal authorities
