Border Patrol agents and a Tohono O'odham Police Department officer arrested a Mexican national after finding drugs being carried on horses near Federal Route 15 on Wednesday afternoon.
The police officer encountered a man leading two horses with large burlap sacks near the village of Santa Rosa, northwest of Sells. As the officer approached, the man ran away leaving behind the horses. The officer seized the horses and called for Border Patrol assistance, according to a news release from Customs and Border Protection.
Agents searched the area and found the man.
The horses were carrying 262 pounds of marijuana and six pounds of methamphetamine, worth a combined total of $123,000. The man, who was in the country illegally, was arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling, CBP said.
