Routine Traffic Stop Nets Two Suspected Border-Jumpers Trafficking $150,000 Worth of Heroin Smuggled in Vehicle

by Steve Birr

ARIZONA – Authorities recently arrested two illegal immigrants from Mexico after discovering more than $100,000 worth of heroin smuggled in their car.

Arizona’s Pinal County Sheriff’s Office authorities were conducting a routine traffic stop on Interstate 10 Monday when they discovered the narcotics shipment. After pulling over a couple for a minor violation, the “deputies noticed (the woman) appeared to be hiding something underneath her shirt,” Tucson.com reported.

Upon a subsequent search, police discovered roughly $150,000 worth of heroin taped to the chest and torso of the woman. Authorities arrested Mexican citizens 57-year-old Jacinto Armentilla Canevet and 53-year-old Silvia Ramos Lopez on charges of possession of narcotics, possession with intent to sell, and transportation of narcotics with intent to sell.

AZ: Two Mexican nationals arrested on suspicion of heroin trafficking after I-10 traffic stop – Jacinto Armentilla Canevet, 57, and Silvia Ramos Lopez, 53 were caught with four pounds of heroin worth $150,000 https://t.co/HfEvKdFcab#DrugTrafficking #CriminalAliens pic.twitter.com/JpgpU2U5O0

— aintnobarbie (@aintnobarbie) March 22, 2018

Large quantities of narcotics continue to infiltrate the U.S. due to the relentless efforts of drug traffickers taking advantage of America’s deteriorating opioid epidemic.

Federal agents recently busted two illegal immigrants with ties to a drug organization in Mexico for trafficking massive amounts fentanyl into Ohio in February. The pair, 23-year-old Nabor Zapeda-Ibarria and 40-year-old Jesus Mayorga Gonzalez, allegedly smuggled roughly 400 grams of the deadly painkiller into the state, which dealers are increasingly cutting into heroin and cocaine supplies.

Drug overdoses, from substances like heroin and fentanyl, are now the leading cause of accidental death for Americans under age 50, killing more than 64,000 people in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Opioid overdoses made up a staggering 66 percent of all drug overdose deaths in 2016, surpassing the annual number of lives lost to breast cancer.

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Feature photo: 57-year-old Jacinto Armentilla Canevet and 53-year-old Silvia Ramos Lopez were charged with possession of narcotics, possession with intent to sell, and transportation of narcotics with intent to sell. Pinal County Sheriff’s Office Mug Shots.