Traffic stop on I-10 by a member of the Arizona Border Strike Force leads to seizure of over $360,000 in illegal drugs
Pima County, Ariz – Arizona Border Strike Force seized just over 53 pounds of meth and over two pounds of heroin during a traffic stop on I-10 in Pima County.
On June 3, 2018, at about 7:56 a.m., a member of the Arizona Border Strike Force (ABSF), made a traffic stop on a passenger vehicle traveling westbound on I-10, west of Tucson. After observing numerous indicators of criminal activity, the vehicle was searched. During the search of the vehicle, 53.75 pounds of methamphetamines and 2.6 pounds of heroin (equivalent to approximately 1.1 million hits of heroin) were found and seized. Altogether, the Arizona street value of the drugs seized is approximately $360,000*.
The suspect, Luis Alberto Mazon Hernandez, 48, a Mexican national, was booked into Federal Custody on the charges of:
- Transport for sale, import into this state or offer to transport for sale or import into this state, sell, transfer or offer to sell or transfer a dangerous drug
- Transport for sale, import into this state, offer to transport for sale or import into this state, sell, transfer or offer to sell or transfer a narcotic drug
Assisting with this investigation were detectives from the Pima Criminal Targeting Unit (CTU), the Southern Regional Crime Lab, and agents from Homeland Security Investigations.
“Arizona Border Strike Force has done a tremendous job working to keep significant amounts of heroin, meth, and other drugs off our highways, drugs which can do great harm to people across this nation, and arresting those suspects transporting the drugs.”, said Major Jack Johnson, Border Strike Force Commander.
The ultimate goal in the creation of the Arizona Border Strike Force is to deter, disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations that breach the border in their quest to set up business in our state. Specific units within the Border Strike Force Bureau include the Canine District, the Southern Investigations District, and the Vehicle Theft District.
Learn more at: https://www.azdps.gov/organization/CID/bsf
*Note: Estimated street value is based on analyst’s best estimates from the DEA’s Phoenix Field Division.
