EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A U.S. citizen is facing federal felony charges after allegedly being caught trying to smuggle 7.18 kilos of fentanyl pills into the United States in a Crock-Pot.
Border officers at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona, thwarted the June 18 smuggling attempt as they pondered why someone would walk over from Mexico carrying a large Crock-Pot filled with meat.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer manning the pedestrian lane of the international bridge asked Jose Armando Longoria, 27, to put the kitchen appliance down so he could take a look.
Court documents show the border officer lifted the Crock-Pot and noticed it felt very heavy. He sent it and Longoria to a secondary inspection area.
Longoria allegedly told other CBP officers there was nothing unusual about the meat. But then they brought out a drug-sniffing dog and received indications from the canine there were drugs in the pot.
The officers emptied and disassembled the Crock-Pot and found 11 bags of blue pills that tested positive for fentanyl.
According to a criminal complaint filed June 20 in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Longoria waived his rights and told federal investigators he was offered $100 by an unnamed party to cross the drugs in the Crock-Pot.
Longoria allegedly said parties had asked him to cross drugs in the past, but that he never had done so prior to now.
The suspect is scheduled to appear at a detention hearing scheduled for July 7 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce G. Macdonald in Tucson, Arizona. He faces charges of possession of 400 grams of more of fentanyl with intent to distribute.
Read: Read More