NOGALES, Ariz. – Two Mexican men were arrested Wednesday in Santa Cruz County Court on state felony drug and weapons charges after they were arrested on suspicion of possessing nearly 2,500 pounds of marijuana and three firearms at a Rio Rico stash house. First court appearance.

Jose Luis Dominguez de la Rosa, 46, of Santa Cruz, Sonora, Mexico, and Paul Chavez Portillo, 25, of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, were charged Wednesday with Santa Cruz County Drug Trafficking. He was taken into custody by members of the Concentration Area. (HIDTA) An investigative task force led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). They face criminal charges of felony possession of marijuana for sale and felony weapons offenses.

Task force investigators became aware of the stash Tuesday after the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office received a call that a Rio Rico home was being used as a transit point for contraband drugs. Members of the task force began surveilling the home and observed Dominguez de la Rosa and Chavez-Portillo exiting through the back door. When investigators attempted to question them, the two men fled, but were quickly arrested.

After obtaining a state search warrant, special forces members entered the home and found 2,499 pounds of marijuana in bales, a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, a 9mm submachine gun, a .22 caliber rifle, and 57 rounds of ammunition.

The case remains under investigation and is being prosecuted by the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office.

The Santa Cruz County HIDTA Investigative Task Force is a multi-agency investigation and interdiction task force in Nogales led by HSI that combats organized crime in Santa Cruz County. This task force targets drug trafficking organizations and providers, local distributors, stash houses, and drug transport rooms. The task force is comprised of full-time members from HSI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Border Patrol, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department, the Santa Cruz County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Nogales Police Department.

A criminal complaint is simply a way of accusing a person of a criminal act and does not create an inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is presented to a jury.