Border Patrol agents seize nearly $3M in meth in Laredo

Officers in Laredo seized more than $2.8 million worth of methamphetamine at the World Trade Bridge, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations (OFO), said Wednesday.

Officers assigned to the cargo facility at the World Trade Bridge encountered a tractor-trailer hauling a shipment of stone handcrafts from Mexico on Friday, Jan. 15, the office said. Using canine and non-intrusive imagining system inspections, the officers found 24 packages of methamphetamine, totaling more than 140 pounds.

Officials put the street value of the drug at $2,811,305.

“Methamphetamine has an appalling impact on individuals, families, and our communities,” said Acting Port Director Eugene Crawford, Laredo Port of Entry. “CBP is dedicated to disrupting the flow of this deadly narcotic through sustained and target-driven enforcement operations.”

CBP officers seized the trailer and the narcotics and turned the case over to the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HIS) special agents for further investigation.

According to CBP, officers seized more than 177,000 pounds of methamphetamine in Fiscal Year 2020 (running from September 2019 to September 2020, and have seized more than 55,000 pounds of methamphetamine in FY 2021 (through December 2020).

The U.S. Department of Defense recognizes Mexico as the largest source of heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine coming into the country, much of it coming into the country through legal ports of entry, like World Trade Bridge, along the southern border of the United States.