Pubdate: Tues, 11 Aug 1998 Source: Arizona Daily Star Contact: Author: Ignacio Ibarra The Arizona Daily Star 6 MEN, 9 HORSES, POT SEIZED NEAR ARIVACA Six men were arrested and nine horses packing 1,215 pounds of marijuana were seized by U.S. Border Patrol agents near Arivaca yesterday. Rob Daniels, Border Patrol spokesman in Tucson, said the men were turned over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration along with 14 bundles of marijuana packed by the horses. He said he could not identify the men. The horses were taken to Nogales for evaluation and possible use by the Border Patrol. Daniels said the confiscated marijuana brings the amount seized by the agency since the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year to more than 172,600 pounds. That is well above the record 160,003 pounds taken last fiscal year. In this case, agents working southeast of Arivaca just after midnight came across the trail of several horses headed north from the border, Daniels said. The agents, aided by a U.S. Customs Service airplane, worked into the early morning to locate the horses. At about 3:15, agents tracking the horses on foot came upon a group of men on horseback in a steep, rocky canyon. But Daniels said the men used the horses to escape. About four hours later, the agents came upon the group again. They arrested six men and seized the horses and drugs. Daniels said one of the men was armed with a Russian-made AK-47 assault rifle, which was also seized. He said using horses for smuggling drugs ``isn't as common as using human backpackers, but it happens, especially in that area, because of the rugged terrain. The area is steep and rocky, and makes for a tough tracking operation.'' Mexican horses are currently banned from import into the United States because cases of equine encephalitis have been reported in some southern states. Daniels said that in the past year the agency has seized about a dozen horses that have been put to use by the Border Patrol after they were determined to be healthy. Horse patrol units have been established at Nogales and Sonoita so far. He said that if all goes well, the horses seized yesterday will end up in Willcox, where the next horse patrol unit is planned. On Friday, an on-duty Border Patrol agent was injured in Nogales when her horse threw her after being spooked by lightning. The accident occurred on the city's west side in the canyons near Mariposa and Target Range Road. - --- Checked-by: Melodi Cornett