El Paso County deputies seized nearly 120 kilograms of cocaine during a targeted interdiction operation involving a commercial tractor-trailer Wednesday, authorities said. The haul weighed approximately 119.8 kilograms, or about 264 pounds, and carried an estimated street value of $4 million. Investigators also seized $7,000 in cash and the tractor-trailer itself.
According to KFOX14/CBS4, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Gang and Narcotics Unit conducted the operation as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Officials have not released the suspected trafficking route, how the cocaine was concealed, or whether anyone was arrested.
Another Borderland Seizure Topped 120 Kilograms
The seizure comes as local and federal authorities continue intercepting large narcotics shipments moving through the Borderland. In March, KVIA reported that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found 122.8 kilograms of cocaine, along with fentanyl and methamphetamine, in a pickup truck at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry.
That earlier case involved a Mexican national who was arrested and faced federal drug-trafficking charges. The current El Paso County seizure is separate, and authorities have not identified a driver, suspect, or specific organization connected to the tractor-trailer.
Investigation Remains Active As Authorities Withhold Details
The sheriff’s office said the seizure disrupted the movement of a large quantity of illegal narcotics and reflected its efforts to target drug-trafficking organizations operating in and through the region. The agency also said it will continue working with local, state, and federal law-enforcement partners while the investigation continues.
The case echoes a smaller tractor-trailer cocaine investigation covered by Hoodline in May, when an El Paso-area truck driver received a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty in a case involving 6.9 kilograms of cocaine hidden beneath a trailer bed. That prior prosecution does not establish any connection to Wednesday’s seizure, but it shows how commercial trucking can become part of investigations into drugs moving beyond the Borderland.
