Over the last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials reported that three methamphetamine and cocaine seizures at the Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry yielded narcotics with a street value of more than $14.4 million.
These events occurred on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17, respectively. The largest seizure occurred on the Pharr International Bridge on Nov. 16, 2022, when a CBP officer referred a tractor-trailer hauling a commercial shipment of charcoal for secondary inspection. In the resulting search, a canine and CBP officer search unveiled 1,337 pounds of alleged methamphetamine hidden within the shipment, with a street value of more than $11.95 million.
That same day, at Anzalduas International Bridge, CBP officers discovered 53.5 pounds of alleged methamphetamine during a secondary inspection of a 2014 Dodge Caravan. The drugs were hidden inside candy boxes. Later, on Nov. 17, 2022, CBP officers at Pharr International Bridge halted a 2008 Ford F-350 hauling a shipment of aluminum scrap and referred it for secondary inspection. Therein, 55 packages with nearly 149 pounds of alleged cocaine – a street value of about $1,986,000 – were found hidden.
“These three significant methamphetamine and cocaine seizures in both the cargo and the passenger vehicle environment underscore the severity of the hard narcotics threat we face every day and the grit and determination of our frontline officers to stop these loads in their tracks before they can enter the U.S. and poison our communities,” Port Director Carlos Rodriguez of Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry, said.
In all three instances, CBP seized the narcotics. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations special agents are proceeding with investigations of the seizures.