Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials recently noted a narcotics seizure increase of more than 1,000 percent within the Buffalo Field Office during fiscal year 2020 over last year.
“The work of the officers has been incredible, and their dedication to CBP’s enforcement mission is evident when you look at the increase in narcotics seizures,” Buffalo Field Office Director Rose Brophy said. “Criminal organizations are not going to stop just because the border has restricted travel. The marijuana seizures alone are valued at just over $120 million. Those proceeds will not make it back to the criminal organizations who would have used those profits to fund other criminal activity.”
At ports within the Buffalo Field Office, Office of Field Operations, personnel have seized a variety of drugs in commercial shipments and passenger vehicles, from Oct. 1, 2019, to Aug. 31, 2020, indicating the Buffalo Field Office covers 16 ports of entry throughout New York State – executing 732 seizures totaling over 40,600 pounds of narcotics. In comparison to the same time frame last year, ports had 1,017 seizures totaling more than 3,440 pounds of narcotics. The CBP said the numbers translate to an increase in excess of 1,000 percent.
The CBP is charged with securing the nation’s borders while enforcing hundreds of laws and facilitating lawful trade and travel, officials said.