Texas Border Business
PHARR, Texas—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility examining a plastic roll shipment found something that didn’t belong; $6.2 million in cocaine.
“Large cocaine seizures like this not only underscore the seriousness of the drug threat our frontline CBP officers face every day but also the effectiveness of applying inspection experience and technology to zero in and take down this load, preventing it from reaching U.S. streets,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry.
On Wednesday, Mar. 5, CBP officers assigned to the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility encountered a commercial tractor trailer hauling a shipment of plastic wrap making entry from Mexico. A CBP officer selected the tractor trailer for inspection which included utilizing nonintrusive inspection (NII)equipment and screening by a (canine team). Physical inspection of the vehicle resulted in officers extracting a total of 150 packages of alleged cocaine weighing 470.68 pounds (213.5 kg) concealed within the commodity. The cocaine has an estimated street value of $6,284,586.
CBP OFO turned the tractor trailer, narcotics and driver over to Texas Department of Public Safety officers who arrested the driver and initiated a criminal investigation.
