Lukeville, Ariz. — A Mesa couple was arrested Friday for allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly $216,000 worth of marijuana into the United States through the Lukeville Port.

Customs and Border Protection officers referred Mario Madrid Hernandez, 48, and Dana Kimberly Oviatt, 44, for secondary inspection of their recreational vehicle when they applied for entry at the border. A search of the vehicle revealed 75 packages of marijuana hidden behind compartments in the camper’s bathroom and rear wall. The drugs, weighing more than 431 pounds, and vehicle were processed for seizure. Hernandez and Oviatt were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Individuals arrested may be charged by complaint, the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity, which raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Customs and Border Protection tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.