Washingtontimes.com
Federal agents in Tucson, Ariz., yesterday seized nearly a ton of marijuana concealed inside a pair of sport utility vehicles painted to perfectly match the marked U.S. Border Patrol vehicles that search for illegal aliens and illicit drugs along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In what Border Patrol officials in Washington described as a new twist in the southern border drug trade, the two white-and-green vehicles — emblazoned with the agency's official logo — were intercepted before dawn by Border Patrol and U.S. Customs Service agents in a joint operation near Palominas, Ariz., about five miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Border Patrol spokesman Mario Villarreal said the vehicles, a 2000 Dodge Durango and a 2001 Ford Expedition, had been detailed to pass as official units complete with painted-on government license plates.
He said agents discovered large bundles containing approximately 1,900 pounds of marijuana inside the SUVs.
Posted by Suzanne at February 20, 2003