GILA BEND, Ariz. — Detectives with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than 220 pounds of methamphetamine and more than 3,500 pounds of marijuana near Gila Bend Wednesday evening.
The estimated street value of the drugs is $2 million, according to MCSO.
Detectives working in the area around Gila Bend saw two trucks avoid a border checkpoint and drive into an uninhabited desert area with their lights off.
MCSO deployed tire deflation devices ahead of the trucks to prevent a potential vehicle pursuit, and both trucks struck the devices and were rendered inoperable.
Four suspects then ran from the trucks, MCSO said.
Detectives coordinated with CBP agents and air support to take three of the suspects into custody.
The vehicles, found loaded with meth and marijuana, had been reported stolen and had fake license plates on them, MCSO said.
The three suspects, 30-year-old Jose Jaime Garcia-Lopez, 48-year-old Yoni Ontiveros-Torres and 46-year-old Ruben Espericueta-Jimenez, were booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail.
They face charges of possession and transportation of dangerous drugs for sale and possession and transportation of marijuana for sale.
