Texas Border Business
LAREDO, Texas—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers seized hard narcotics in four separate, unrelated incidents that totaled over $75,000,000 in street value.
“Our frontline officers continue to maintain their vigilance as the summer wears on and their effective application of interview experience and utilization of inspections technology resulted in four significant seizures of hard narcotics loads in both the passenger and commercial vehicle environments,” said Port Director Alberto Flores, Laredo Port of Entry.
The first enforcement action occurred at the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge, after CBP officers encountered an empty refrigerated trailer arriving from Mexico. The 2010 Freightliner was referred for a canine and non-intrusive imaging system inspection, resulting in the discovery of 3,740.36 pounds of alleged methamphetamine within the trailer. The narcotics had an estimated street value of $74,806,487.
The second seizure occurred at the World Trade Bridge, after CBP officers assigned to the cargo facility processed a daily express consignment truck with a shipment manifesting a toy car arriving from Mexico. The 2015 Freightliner and shipment were referred for a canine and non-intrusive imaging system inspection, resulting in the discovery of 5.68 pounds of alleged brown heroin within the shipment. The narcotics combined had an estimated street value of $129,000.
The third enforcement action occurred at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge, after a CBP officer referred a 2017 Toyota Hiace arriving from Mexico for a secondary inspection. Following a canine and non-intrusive imaging system inspection, CBP officers discovered a total of 17 packages containing 37.61 pounds of alleged cocaine within the vehicle. The narcotics had an estimated street value of $291,720.
The fourth enforcement action occurred at the World Trade Bridge, after CBP officers encountered a truck hauling a shipment of leather seats arriving from Mexico. The 2019 Ford F-350 and shipment were referred for a canine and non-intrusive imaging system inspection, resulting in the discovery of 14 packages containing 38 pounds of alleged marijuana within the shipment. The narcotics had an estimated street value of $7,760.
The four interceptions have a combined street value of $75,234,967.
CBP seized the narcotics, the van and one trailer in connection with the alleged smuggling attempts. The cases were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) special agents for further investigation.
