U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently reported that it seized approximately 121 pounds of heroin and eight pounds of cocaine in a shipping container of vegetables in early January.
The container was moving from Ecuador to Miami through the Red Hook Container Terminal in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The incident occurred on Jan. 7, when a K-9 unit uncovered 257 boxes that held a combined 970 packages of a brown powdery substance. After a short field test, it was determined that the packages contained heroin. Fifty-eight additional packages were also discovered, each containing a white powder that tested positive for cocaine.
Approximately 121 pounds of heroin worth more than $3.5 million on the street and approximately eight pounds of cocaine worth more than $135,000 on the street were seized by agents and turned over to officials from Homeland Security Investigations.
“This is a significant seizure,” Robert E. Perez, director of the New York Field Operations, said. “The ongoing partnership between CBP and HSI continues to produce results that protect the American public. This intercept prevents a large quantity of drugs from getting to the streets and in the hands of our children.”
No arrests have been made and the investigation will continue.