PCSO deputies picked up more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana in a five-day span. PCSO photo

Between Nov. 29 and Dec. 3, Pinal County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 14 people on suspicion of drug smuggling in the western part of the county. Working on patrol or with U.S. Border Patrol agents, they reportedly netted 1,382 pounds of marijuana.

That included the previously reported incident of a car chase and foot chase on Nov. 29 that led to the arrest of Guadalupe Acosta Gutierrez, 22, by an Ak-Chin Police officer. PCSO allegedly found 280 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle being driven by the Mexican national.

Nov. 30, Border Patrol chased suspected smugglers near Warren and Miller roads, where the suspects abandoned their black SUV and fled into the desert. PCSO assisted and arrested German Nunez-Mojarro, 24, also from Mexico, and seized 500 pounds of marijuana. Nunez-Mojarro was booked at Pinal County jail pending drug smuggling charges.

Weapons were allegedly found in one vehicle during a PCSO stop. PCSO photo
Weapons were allegedly found in one vehicle during a PCSO stop. PCSO photo

Dec. 2, a PCSO reportedly witnessed a Honda sedan violate traffic laws on State Route 84 north of Interstate 8. After a brief chase, the vehicle stopped near milepost 167, three men ran into the desert while the driver and two other people remained in the car. The vehicle alleged contained two assault-type rifles with loaded magazine, food, water and toiletries. The driver was identified as City Madrigal, 25, of Phoenix, who was released pending charges of conspiracy to commit drug smuggling. The other two were turned over to Border Patrol, and the food was donated to a local shelter.

That night, a PCSO deputy saw a Chrysler minivan stopped on the side of SR 84 near milepost 163. Its side door remained open as it resumed traveling down the highway. When the deputy pulled over the minivan, seven men jumped from the vehicle and ran into the desert, according to the report. The driver, Priscilla Glendena Miguel, 36, of San Tan Valley, remained alone in the vehicle. The deputy allegedly found 10 camouflaged bundles of marijuana (500 pounds), one with a Motorola two-way radio attached. Two suspects who had left the scene were later located by deputies and identified as Iran Sayd Valenzuela, 31 and Juan Luis Jacobi, 26, both Mexican nationals. A third person linked to the group was arrested a few hours later by Border Patrol near I-8. Identified as Moises Vergdugo-Rojo, 24, of Mexico, was reported to be carrying a 50-pound pack of marijuana. All were book at the county jail on drug-smuggling charges.

Dec. 3, a PCSO deputy pulled over a Ford SUV traveling south on SR 347 near Papago Road on suspicion of speeding. When the vehicle stopped, nine men in camouflage ran from the vehicle. Ak-Chin Police helped capture five of them, all identified as Mexicans in the country illegally. They were turned over to U.S. Border Patrol.

Later that afternoon, a PCSO deputy saw two westbound cars exit I-8 and SR 84 and stop near the highway. The cars then took the eastbound lanes, stopping again near the Stanfield Road exit before heading east again. Suspicious, the deputy pulled over one of the cars, a Nissan sedan. The two men in the vehicle fled into the desert and could not be located, but the deputy reportedly found two bales of marijuana weighing 50 pounds in the Nissan. The other vehicle, a Mercury sedan, was stopped a mile away, where four men fled into the desert and were not located.

“The fact that our deputies can arrest 14 smugglers, seize over 1300 pounds of marijuana, assault weapons and sophisticated radios from the Mexican drug cartels, in Pinal County, in just five days, should be a wake- up call to everyone that the border is not secure,” Sheriff Paul Babeu said.