Texas Border Business
EDINBURG, Texas– Tuesday, Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents seized more than 800 pounds of marijuana in three separate smuggling attempts.
Tuesday afternoon, Weslaco Border Patrol agents working near Progreso, Texas, observed a Ford Pickup departing an area known for narcotic smuggling. When agents initiated a vehicle stop, the driver failed to yield. The vehicle sped toward the Rio Grande where the driver abandoned the truck and swam to Mexico with three other subjects. Agents searched the vehicle and discovered a bundle of marijuana weighing approximately 48 pounds and valued over $38K. The marijuana was transported to the Weslaco station for processing and the vehicle was turned over to the Weslaco Police Department.
That evening, Rio Grande City agents working near Rio Grande City, Texas, observed multiple individuals loading bundles of suspected narcotics into a pickup truck. As agents attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the driver failed to yield and sped off. The vehicle was found, abandoned on the side of the road. Agents discovered 87 bundles of marijuana inside the bed of the pickup. The marijuana weighed approximately 770 pounds and has a value of $616K. A search of the immediate area resulted in the arrest of the driver. The driver, truck, and narcotics were turned over to the Starr County Sherriff’s Office.
Hours later, Fort Brown Border Patrol agents observed two subjects carrying bundles and running across an open field towards a levee road in Brownsville, Texas. When agents responded to the area the subjects abandoned the bundles and fled toward the Rio Grande and swam back to Mexico. Agents seized two bundles of marijuana weighing approximately 50 pounds and worth over $40K.
Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation. The U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector will continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements.
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.
