U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers stationed at the Laredo Port of Entry in Texas recently made significant seizures of methamphetamine in three separate incidents at the port’s Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge.
According to CBP, the seizures were made after officers referred each driver for a secondary inspection, which involved the use of physical searches, a non-intrusive imaging system, and narcotics-detection canine teams.
The first incident occurred on Oct. 13 when officers encountered a 22-year-old, male Mexican citizen driving a 2014 Chevrolet Cruz sedan. The individual was eventually caught with approximately 34 pounds of alleged crystal methamphetamine.
A day later, officers encountered a 40-year-old, male Mexican citizen driving a 2016 Prevost H3 bus. It was later discovered that the man was carrying approximately 10 pounds of alleged crystal methamphetamine.
On Sunday, Oct. 15, officers referred a 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV driven by a 28-year-old, female U.S. citizen from Manor, Texas, for inspection. She was later caught with approximately 104 pounds of alleged liquid methamphetamine.
The total approximate value of the seizures on the street was $2,962,541.
“These were excellent interceptions by our CBP officers,” Port Director Albert Flores said. “Our CBP officers’ experience, hard work, perseverance and utilization of the canine and non-intrusive imaging system resulted in the interception of these hard narcotic seizure.”
All drivers involved with the seizures were arrested by CBP officers and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit for criminal processing. All drugs and vehicles were seized by CBP.