U.S. Customs and Border Protection said two seizures on the same day at the Laredo and Pharr crossings netted more than four tons of suspected methamphetamine hidden in commercial cargo
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said its officers at Laredo Field Office ports of entry seized methamphetamine valued at more than $72.3 million in two separate enforcement actions over the holiday weekend.
According to CBP, the larger seizure happened Friday, June 19, at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, when an officer referred a 2011 Dodge Ram stake-bed truck hauling a shipment manifested as “polypropylene” for secondary inspection. The agency said a canine and imaging-system examination led officers to 7,047.73 pounds of suspected methamphetamine concealed in the cargo, with a street value of $63,002,534.
The second seizure also occurred June 19, CBP said, when officers at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility inspected a tractor-trailer traveling from Reynosa, Mexico. According to the agency, imaging equipment revealed anomalies in the trailer, and a physical inspection turned up 193 packages of alleged methamphetamine weighing a combined 1,042.78 pounds, valued at $9,321,884.
“These large-scale cargo methamphetamine seizures, both taken the same day at different ports of entry within the Laredo Field Office, underscore the serious drug threat our officers are facing as well as their resolve to stem the flow of this poison into the U.S.,” said Laredo Field Office Director of Field Operations Donald R. Kusser. He said frontline officers remain committed to the agency’s border security mission.
CBP said it seized the narcotics and the vehicles in both actions, and that Homeland Security Investigations special agents have opened criminal investigations into each. The agency said its officers along the southwest border work to stop illegal activity while facilitating lawful entry for travelers.
