U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized 483 pounds of fentanyl last week from a bus being driven across the southern border by two Mexican drivers, along with $11,010 in cash.
The bus, which was en route to Los Angeles, California, was intercepted at the Dennis DeConcini port of entry in Nogales, Arizona, and the drugs were found in a rear wheel well by a sniffer dog. The cash was discovered stuffed in a plastic bag hidden under the dashboard.
Driver Martin Valencia Dessens denied all knowledge of the drugs and the cash to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), but agents noted he “did not seem surprised” when he was told the contraband had been found on his bus. Just two milligrams of fentanyl can kill an adult — the amount seized was enough to kill over 100 million people.
Dessens and relief driver Luis Eduardo Virgen Pena claimed they had been in Las Vegas before heading to Mexican Nogales and staying overnight, beginning their aborted trip to Los Angeles on January 27th. Pena is said to have received several alerts on his cellphone while in custody, possibly from a person or persons awaiting the bus’s arrival.
The pair have been charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and are due in court on February 5th.
Donald Trump believes illegal immigration and drug trafficking under Joe Biden are “poisoning the blood” of the United States, with enough fentanyl to kill every American citizen having been seized by the authorities in 2023.
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