Bus carrying nearly 500 pounds of fentanyl stopped at border
Driver says 'it's possible' someone else had access to vehicle in hotel parking lot
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspect vehicles at the Nogales, Arizona, port of entry.
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EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Federal officials have arrested two Mexican drivers who showed up at a border crossing in Nogales, Arizona, in a commercial bus carrying nearly 483 pounds of fentanyl.
The arrest took place on Jan. 27 at the Dennis DeConcini port of entry after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers referred a bus traveling from Mexico to Los Angeles to a secondary inspection area. There, a canine officer alerted CBP to anomalies in the rear wheel well of the vehicle.
Court records show officers found 92 packages weighing 219.2 kilos and containing small blue pills testing positive for fentanyl. Further inspection revealed a plastic bag concealed in the driver’s dashboard holding $11,010 in cash.
In an interview with Homeland Security Investigations agents, driver Martin Valencia Dessens, 32, denied knowledge of the cash. Court records show he told HSI he and co-driver Luis Eduardo Virgen Pena had just returned from Las Vegas and spent the night in a Nogales, Mexico, hotel before driving to Los Angeles to pick up passengers.
Valencia told agents someone might have gained access to the bus as it was parked at the hotel because the keys are usually left on the dash. In a criminal complaint filed on Jan. 29 in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, HSI agents affirmed Valencia “did not seem surprised” when informed a significant amount of narcotics and hidden cash had been found on the commercial vehicle.
When asked why he had not crossed through the designated bus lane at the nearby Mariposa port of entry, Valencia said he and his driving partner decided to set off early for Los Angeles, and that the bus lane usually does not open that early.
Agents said they observed multiple alerts from an unspecified party come through on relief driver Virgen’s cellphone while he was in custody.
Valencia and Virgen are facing charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. A detention hearing has been set for Feb. 5 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael A. Ambri in a federal courtroom in Tucson.
