U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Nogales DeConcini Port of Entry seized more than 112 pounds of fentanyl during a smuggling attempt by a U.S. citizen, the agency says.
CBP officers referred the driver, a 36-year-old American man driving a 2006 Nissan Titan, for a secondary inspection as he returned from Mexico on Nov. 3, CBP said in a news release.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection says its officers at the DeConcini Port of Entry seized on Nov. 3 more than 300 packages containing fentanyl, weighing 112 pounds, that were concealed in a pickup truck driven by a U.S. citizen.
Officers used non-intrusive inspection technology to identify "anomalies" in folding chairs in the bed of the pickup truck, and CBP's canine team alerted officers to the presence of narcotics. Officers seized the vehicle, as well as more than 300 packages of fentanyl inside the chairs, the release said. Homeland Security Investigations special agents also responded to the scene.
"This exceptional interception highlights the relentless vigilance of our frontline personnel, the immense value of our canine units, and the critical role that advanced NII (non-intrusive inspection) technology and modernized infrastructure play in our operations," said Roque Caza, director of field operations for the Tucson Field Office. "We are aggressively disrupting transnational criminal networks and stopping deadly narcotics from reaching our communities."
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The case is under investigation.
Almost 90% of fentanyl smuggled into the U.S. comes through the ports of entry, most of it smuggled by U.S. citizens in passenger vehicles, federal data show.
A national decline in fentanyl seizures began in 2023, which experts attribute to factors including lower demand, as fentanyl overdoses have dropped since their 2022 peak, as well as disruptions in the supply chain from China for precursor materials used to make fentanyl.
Arizona's ports of entry saw a 30% reduction in the weight of fentanyl seized in fiscal year 2026, compared to the prior year, but there was a 10% increase in individual seizure events in fiscal year 2026, CBP's Caza said at an October news conference in Tucson. CBP's field office oversees the six land ports and two international airports in Arizona.
"If one ounce of fentanyl gets through, we have more work to do," he said.
Contact reporter Emily Bregel at ebregel@tucson.com. On X, formerly Twitter: @EmilyBregel
Emily Bregel
Border reporter
