U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers working at the Port Everglades seized more than 22 pounds of heroin during a recent inspection on Monday.
CBP officers uncovered the heroin on a vessel arriving from Guatemala and turned the narcotics to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents for further processing. The estimated street value of the narcotics is approximately $600,000.
“The vigilance and dedication of CBP officers has helped us to successfully interdict a significant amount of dangerous narcotics from reaching South Florida communities,” Jorge Roig, port director of Port Everglades, said. “Close collaboration with our Federal partners is essential and we will continue to refine and further enhance the effectiveness of our detection and interdiction capabilities.”
BP officers seized approximately 3.3 million pounds of drugs across the country in Fiscal Year 2015. Total heroin seizures amounted to approximately 6,000 pounds.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of the nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists, terrorist weapons and narcotics of all kinds out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.