UCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a Phoenix man after finding a variety of drugs inside his vehicle’s spare tire outside of Gila Bend early Monday.
Just after midnight, Tucson Sector agents at the state Route 85 immigration checkpoint referred a Ford Explorer SUV for a secondary inspection. In the subsequent search, agents discovered numerous packages of suspected narcotics concealed within the spare tire.
Testing later confirmed the packages, weighing more than 70 pounds, contained an assortment of meth, fentanyl, cocaine and heroin with a combined street value of more than $600,000.
Agents arrested the 39 year-old driver. He and the contraband were turned over to ICE Homeland Security Investigations for prosecution.
