YUMA, Ariz. – Wellton Station Border Patrol agents working at the Interstate 8 Immigration Checkpoint Thursday evening arrested two 15-year-old United States citizens attempting to smuggle fentanyl through the checkpoint as passengers in a shuttle van.
At approximately 5 p.m., a U.S. Border Patrol canine alerted to an odor it was trained to detect emitting from a shuttle van. The vehicle and the occupants were sent to the secondary inspection area for further investigation.
Agents discovered two teens, both United States citizens, with fentanyl taped to their legs. The weight of the fentanyl taped to the body carriers was more than one kilogram, roughly the same amount as 540,000 lethal doses. Fentanyl has been found to be fatal when as little as two milligrams are absorbed, inhaled or swallowed.
The juvenile subjects were arrested on drug smuggling charges, and the narcotics and vehicle were seized.
