Customs agents at the Brownsville Port of Entry had a busy start to the week, interdicting two separate shipments of cocaine with a combined street value of nearly $400,000. The busts occurred at two different international bridges connecting the United States and Mexico, underscoring the ongoing challenge authorities face in stemming the flow of narcotics.
On Monday, a 31-year-old Mexican citizen was caught with 20.96 pounds of alleged cocaine after a canine unit and scanning technology alerted officers to the contraband hidden in his vehicle. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the drugs were secreted in a 2006 International, a truck commonly seeing traversing the Veterans International Bridge
The second seizure happened Tuesday at the Gateway International Bridge, where a 20-year-old woman from Brownsville, Texas, was found trying to smuggle 8.99 pounds of what appeared to be cocaine. After an initial inspection, a non-intrusive inspection system and a canine team led officers to four hidden packages within her 2006 Ford. "These subsequent cocaine seizures illustrate the seriousness of the narcotics threat our CBP officers face on a daily basis as they continue to maintain a robust enforcement posture and their efforts have yielded these recent significant narcotic seizures," Port Director Tater Ortiz stated from U.S. Customs and Border Protection news release.
The drivers were arrested following both incidents, with Homeland Security Investigations special agents taking over for subsequent criminal probes. Swept up with the narcotics, the vehicles were seized as part of the enforcement action. Sharing the weight of these seizures, the estimated street values stand at approximately $279,936 and $120,098 for each intervention, respectively. For those following the work of the CBP's Laredo Field Office, updates and breaking news can often be found via Director tweets at @DFOLaredo and general CBP updates for South Texas at @CBPSouthTexas.
