[ad_1]
Share This Story!
Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about
12 arrested in Chandler drug smuggling ring
Throughout the 13-month investigation, officials seized 2 pounds of heroin and methamphetamine along with seven firearms.
Sent!
A link has been sent to your friend’s email address.
Posted!
A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.
![Mexican soldiers in early November 2017 confiscated](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/133784ed7285f58b0beaa470485a067728f97949/c=30-0-522-370/local/-/media/2017/11/15/Phoenix/Phoenix/636463580591500595-Bazooka1.jpg?width=680&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
Mexican soldiers in early November 2017 confiscated a truck-mounted bazooka they say was used to launch packages containing drugs across the border fence near Douglas.
Mexico Attorney General’s Office
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In September 2017, two men were arrested after Border Patrol agents at a checkpoint near Tombstone found 320 pounds of marijuana hidden inside a tour bus that had passengers on board.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
![Douglas agents retrieved a nearly 100
pound bundle](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/416eda674b7ddf9c2bfd7873c9cc5d9ae6136431/c=51-0-497-335/local/-/media/2017/08/25/Phoenix/Phoenix/636392711895513719-08252017-TCA-DGL-Cannon-Bundle.jpg?width=680&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In August 2017, Border Patrol agents in Douglas seized a nearly 100-pound bundle of marijuana after spotting it flying over the border fence. Surveillance video captured the large package launching through the air over the fence from Mexico to the U.S. Agents on the ground found a large, plastic-wrapped bundle worth about $48,000.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
![In July 2017, Border Patrol officials said a man tried](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/a8dba35a8c01799bcb5351989d06d6c2bd700101/c=0-0-2448-3264/local/-/media/2017/07/27/Phoenix/Phoenix/636367946671777729-IMG-Clone1.jpg?width=380&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In July 2017, Border Patrol officials said a man tried to smuggle nearly $200,000 worth of marijuana across the border that was stashed inside a cloned Dish Network van.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
![In April of 2017, Willcox Border Patrol agents stopped](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/c7e6945626ebe0d253725263318a2e7c9389806c/c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/2017/05/01/Phoenix/Phoenix/636292395080020181-border.jpg?width=380&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In April 2017, Willcox Border Patrol agents stopped a hearse near Tombstone and found 67 pounds of marijuana inside a casket, according to officials. The marijuana had been covered with manure to mask the smell. The drugs were valued at about $33,000.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
![In February of 2017, Border Patrol agents found a catapult](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/c7e6945626ebe0d253725263318a2e7c9389806c/c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/2017/05/01/Phoenix/Phoenix/636292395080020181-catipult.jpg?width=380&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In February of 2017, Border Patrol agents found a catapult used to throw bundles of marijuana over the border into Dougles. The launcher was attached to the Mexico-side of the border fence. Agents seized drugs and the system, which was later dismantled.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
![In January 2017, more than $100,000 worth of marijuana](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/1b9090ab2e1d5302f361f57f9ab9cf832beaaae7/c=1-0-540-405/local/-/media/2017/05/01/Phoenix/Phoenix/636292395080020181-ford.jpg?width=680&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In January 2017, more than $100,000 worth of marijuana was found at the Raul Hector Castro Port of Entry in Douglas. Officers seized the 200 pounds of drugs, which had been hidden inside the door and the frame of a Ford SUV.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
![In June 2016, Border Patrol agents found meth disguised](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9902e24b3ce22452871a78d74d7f00970fb66eca/c=0-0-533-401/local/-/media/2017/05/01/Phoenix/Phoenix/636292395080956199-tamales.jpg?width=680&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In June 2016, Border Patrol agents found meth disguised as tamales while searching a vehicle at the Port of Nogales. The drugs, held in a bag the suspect claimed contained food, were valued at $3,000, officers said.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
![In April 2016, officers discovered 152 pounds of liquid](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9902e24b3ce22452871a78d74d7f00970fb66eca/c=0-0-533-401/local/-/media/2017/05/01/Phoenix/Phoenix/636292395080956199-meth.jpg?width=680&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In April 2016, officers discovered 152 pounds of liquid meth hidden in a Ford SUV, according to Border Patrol. A narcotics-detection K9 alerted officers to the liquid meth, which cost an estimated $457,000.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
![In November 2015, Border Patrol agents found 88 pounds](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/51e8817c5f91e9990e86f73adb3d194beb00b124/c=1-0-679-510/local/-/media/2017/05/01/Phoenix/Phoenix/636292395080176184-honda.jpg?width=680&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In November 2015, Border Patrol agents found 88 pounds of marijuana at the Port of Douglas, when a teenager attempted to smuggle the drugs in the vehicle’s gas tank and seats. The drugs were valued at $44,000.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
![In May of 2015, Border Patrol agents seized 2,700 pounds](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/1b9090ab2e1d5302f361f57f9ab9cf832beaaae7/c=1-0-540-405/local/-/media/2017/05/01/Phoenix/Phoenix/636292395079864178-bellpeppers.jpg?width=680&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In May of 2015, Border Patrol agents seized 2,700 pounds of marijuana that was hidden underneath a load of bell peppers. A Border Protection canine picked up the scent as the tractor-trailer traveled through the Port of Nogales. The drugs were valued at $1.36 million.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
![In April of 2015, Border Patrol agents arrested two](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9902e24b3ce22452871a78d74d7f00970fb66eca/c=0-0-533-401/local/-/media/2017/05/01/Phoenix/Phoenix/636292395079864178-bike-tires.jpg?width=680&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In April of 2015, Border Patrol agents arrested two 17-year-olds after discovering marijuana hidden in their bike tires. The teens, attempting to enter near Douglas, had hidden 3 1/2 pounds of pot, amounting to about $1,700 per bike.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
![In May 2014, Border Patrol agents seized more than](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/c3b29b65d3e1f72b519635274c4e19f18ba1c7c9/c=174-0-2898-2048/local/-/media/2017/05/01/Phoenix/Phoenix/636292409874876692-nafta-trucks-11.jpg?width=680&height=510&fit=crop)
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
In May 2014, Border Patrol agents seized more than 2,400 pounds of marijuana found in a shipment of jalapeños in a tractor-trailer at the Mariposa cargo facility in southern Arizona. Agents found 105 bales of marijuana, worth more than $1.2 million.
The Republic
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
U.S. Custom and Border Protection agents stop thousands of pounds of narcotics from crossing the border. Smugglers have come up with unique and creative ways to evade detection, including sneaking drugs through air-powered cannons, catapults, ultralight aircraft, vehicle ramps and physically throwing them over the wall.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
Autoplay
Show Thumbnails
Show Captions
Strangest attempts to smuggle drugs across the border
Mexican soldiers in early November 2017 confiscated a truck-mounted bazooka they say was used to launch packages containing drugs across the border fence near Douglas.
Chandler police on Monday said 12 people have been arrested in connection with a drug trafficking ring that brought illicit drugs from the Mexican border into the Valley.
The investigation started in May 2017 when the Chandler Police Department’s narcotics unit identified an organization that was transporting, packaging and selling drugs from an area near the Mexican border, the department said.
Throughout the investigation, detectives seized 2 pounds of heroin and methamphetamine, quantities of cocaine, marijuana and fentanyl, and seven firearms, police said.
Officials identified 12 individuals believed to be connected to the ring and arrested them July 24, the department said.
Chandler police identified the suspects as: Guadalupe Larranaga, 37; Francisco Javier-Lopez, 37; Rodolfo Gaxiola-Vega, 26; Diego Vela-Valenzuela, 32; Gaspar Lopez-Felix, 32; Ray Villa, 57; Jesus Gonzales, 47; Vanessa Romero, 33; Jesse Raley, 39; Anna Larranaga, 37; Clarissa Moreno, 46; Marisela Chavez-Borbon, 26.
They were booked into the Maricopa County Jail on charges of illegal control of an enterprise, money laundering, conspiracy to commit possession of narcotic drugs and selling dangerous drugs.
READ MORE:
Read or Share this story: https://azc.cc/2M8iMC0
[ad_2]
Source link