# Ariz. Customs agent is charged in cocaine smuggling sting



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

By Michael Marizco, Arizona Daily Star





A U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspector was charged with trying to help what he thought was a drug trafficker smuggle more than 400 pounds of cocaine through a Nogales, Ariz., port of entry on Saturday. 



Fernando Arango was charged in U.S. District Court in Tucson on Monday with possession with intent to distribute after he allowed a recreational vehicle bearing what he believed was 440 pounds of cocaine to pass through his inspection line at the Mariposa Port of Entry, the criminal complaint against him said. 



On Sunday, a law enforcement informant met with Arango and paid him $50,000 for his help in passing the vehicle through, the complaint stated.


----------

