AGENTS FIND BIG LOAD OF MARIJUANA INSIDE TOUR BUS IN NOGALES

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found nearly 1,600 pounds
of marijuana inside a tour bus Thursday morning at the main port of
entry in Nogales.

Suspicions were raised during questioning of the driver and a review
of bus paperwork as the vehicle crossed through the downtown Dennis
DeConcini Port of Entry at 2 a.m. Thursday, said Brian Levin, a
Customs and Border Protection spokesman.

During a subsequent inspection, a drug-sniffing dog alerted agents to
something inside the bus. A vehicle X-ray system also showed
abnormalities in the bus's structure.

Officers inspected the bus and found an access hatch to a compartment
in the rear of the bus, Levin said. Inside, they found 179 bundles of
marijuana weighing a total of 1,577 pounds, he said. The marijuana had
an estimated value of $906,775, according to figures from the National
Drug Intelligence Center.

The bus was a Mexican charter carrying 13 people en route to Phoenix,
Levin said. Five people -- three men and two women, all Mexican
citizens -- were arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, he said. The other eight were allowed to continue onward,
but the bus stayed at the port.

It has been many years since officers found a large load of marijuana
in a charter bus, Levin said.

"It tells us that the drug-trafficking organizations are trying to use
a variety of ways to do this," Levin said. "They are looking for the
appearance of normalcy and legitimacy. They are trying not to stand
out." Officers also stopped two attempts to smuggle cocaine through
the same port of entry this week. On Wednesday, officers found 25
pounds of cocaine inside a compartment built into a 1996 Ford
Thunderbird driven by a 47-year-old man from Nogales, Sonora.

On Thursday, officers discovered 37 pounds of cocaine inside the
panels of a vehicle driven by a 26-year-old woman from Nogales,
Sonora, Levin said. Both people were turned over to Immigration and
Customs Enforcement. The 62 pounds of cocaine has an estimated value
of $435,922, according to U.S. data.