$1.1 Million In Narcotics Seized In Three Separate Seizures At Texas Border
Combating and interrupting the flow of drugs across the Texas/Mexico border is more than a full-time job. It is a relentless and ever-changing job that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers take seriously. They take pride in their job knowing they are interrupting the flow of drugs across our border so that the drugs don't make on onto our streets.
Within the last week, border agents at the Brownville entry point have seized narcotics on three separate occasions that netted various narcotics that have an estimated street value of $1,069,619. Brownsville Port of Entry agents intercepted the alleged narcotics. Port Diretor Tater Ortiz says,
Our CBP officers’ vigilance and attention to detail led to these significant drug seizures.
The first seizure occurred Thursday, May 26th.
A 25-year-old female Brownsville resident and a U.S. citizen was trying to cross the Gateway International Bridge when she was intercepted and asked to head to a second checkpoint. At this checkpoint, during the secondary inspection, a canine unit was called out and that's when officers discovered six packages hidden in her vehicle. Those packages weighed 13.49 pounds and were allegedly cocaine that had an approximated street value of $104,040.
The second seizure also occurred Thursday, May 26th.
Very similar to the previous incident, a 22-year-old San Benito resident was trying to return to the U.S. when her vehicle didn't pass the initial inspection and was referred to a second one. At this checkpoint, the canine was called out and a non-intrusive inspection system was deployed where agents uncovered 13 packages hidden in her vehicle. Border patrol agents inspected the contents, which allegedly were 25.39 pounds of methamphetamine. An approximated street value of this find is $507,939.
The third seizure occurred Friday, May 27th.
This seizure happened when a 35-year-old man from Brownsville and a U.S. citizen crossed the Los Indios International Bridge. He was referred for an additional inspection where Customs and Border Protection officers discovered 23 packages hidden in his vehicle that allegedly contained 59.34 pounds of cocaine. This seizure has an estimated street value of $457,640.
Each of these individuals had their vehicles seized, along with the drugs, and were turned over to Homeland Security where they were further investigated. These isolated seizures are playing out all along the southern border with Mexico. These officers are doing what they can to protect and keep drugs off of our streets. Investigations and inspections like this are happening at all of the border crossing points along the Texas-New Mexico-Arizona-California/Mexico border, but it's not limited to the southern border, it also happens at the Canadian border and ports of entry along the east and west coast too.
This effort will continue thanks to the relentless pursuit by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.