Along with stopping human smugglers, U.S Customs and Border Protection has confiscated some major drug hauls coming from Mexico, including crystal meth and cocaine worth millions of dollars in street value.
CBP’s Acting Deputy Commissioner Ron Vitello said frontline CBP officers are using “an effective combination of technological tools and inspections experience to zero-in on and interdict” these illicit drugs.
“These narcotics will not enter the U.S. and wreak any further havoc on our communities,” Vitello said.
A routine commercial truck inspection led to a massive meth bust on April 14 at a California border crossing in San Diego.
CBP officers confiscated over 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine worth nearly $5 million on the street. They discovered the meth concealed within a cargo trailer stopped at the Otay Mesa Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility in San Diego.
CBP officers referred a 2017 Freightliner Cascadia for secondary inspection. The truck and its trailer, driven by a 31-year-old male Mexican citizen, attempted to cross from Mexico.
According to CBP, the shipment manifest declared the cargo as corrugated cardboard boxes. However, officers found 300 packages of methamphetamine concealed within the trailer’s front wall.
“Our CBP officers at ports of entry are unwavering guardians,” said Otay Mesa Port Director Rosa E. Hernandez. “Their diligence prevented illegal narcotics from entering our country, so our communities are kept safe from dangerous drugs.”
On April 21, CBP officers in Texas intercepted another large shipment of meth worth $8.1 million in a commercial tractor trailer at Pharr International Bridge, traveling from Reynosa, Mexico.
In total, officers found 200 packages of white powder, weighing 908 pounds, concealed within the pallets of tile. The narcotics, which tested positive for meth, have an estimated street value of $8,119,696, CBP said.
“As this significant seizure aptly illustrates, CBP officers work tirelessly to ensure that commerce flows and hard narcotics are stopped in their tracks,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry.
The Pharr International Bridge connects US 281 in Texas to the City of Reynosa. In nearby Hidalgo, the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge links Reynosa to Texas and is the only international Port of Entry that has a pedestrian crossing in this area.
The State Department recently issued a travel alert, warning Americans to avoid Reynosa, Mexico, just over the border from Texas, after receiving reports of “violent criminal activity,” Fox News Digital reported.
The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico said U.S. government employees have been ordered to stay away from the area of Reynosa, a city of about 700,000 residents located near McAllen, Texas.
“U.S. Consulate Matamoros has received reports of violent criminal activity including roadblocks in Reynosa,” it said in the advisory, urging any Americans there to “be aware of your surroundings,” maintain “a high level of vigilance” and to “keep a low profile.”
In a separate drug seizure on April 15, CBP intercepted $1.1 million in suspected cocaine concealed in an empty trailer, crossing the Pharr International Bridge from Reynosa, Mexico.
The discovery netted 32 packages of suspected cocaine concealed within the trailer floor. CBP officers seized the narcotics, tractor and trailer.
On April 11, CBP officers at the Hidalgo Port of Entry seized cocaine valued at more than $1 million hidden within a passenger bus.
Officers stopped the bus at the Hidalgo International Bridge in Texas, following a canine “nonintrusive inspection system examination,” according to CBP.
They discovered 36 packages, containing 78 pounds of suspected cocaine, hidden within the seats of the bus. The narcotics have a street value of $1,042,034.
In southern Florida, U.S. Coast Guard Southeast shared on social media that Cutter Resolute’s crew offloaded 2,570 pounds of cocaine worth more than $19.3 million, along with six suspected drug smugglers, to federal authorities on Thursday, April 23 at Base Miami Beach.
Coast Guard members aboard the Cutter Tahoma and the crew of the USS Billings confiscated the cocaine during three interdictions in the Caribbean Sea.
“The success of these interdictions reflects the strength of our partnerships and the persistence of our crews,” Cmdr. Ian Starr, Resolute’s commanding officer, said in a statement. “By stopping these shipments at sea, we are preventing dangerous drugs from reaching our communities and disrupting transnational criminal organizations.”
