TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of Lukeville arrested a Mexican national connected to an unsuccessful weekend attempt to smuggle fentanyl into the United States.

Officers discovered fentanyl pills

hidden inside of chips

Officers referred a 27-year-old Mexican male for a secondary inspection of his Jeep SUV as he applied to enter the United States from Mexico Sunday morning. A CBP canine alerted to an odor it is trained to detect, leading officers to the discovery of more than a dozen packages of fentanyl pills, which was concealed within packages of chips as well as within a cup of shredded beef. The fentanyl weighed nearly 2.5 pounds, worth an estimated value of more than $25,000.

Fentanyl pills were hidden within a

cup of shredded beef

Officers arrested the subject and turned him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, while the drugs and the vehicle were seized.