EL PASO, TEXAS -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operation officers working at the El Paso port of entry seized 0.48 pounds of heroin Tuesday. The drugs were concealed in the rectum of male border crosser.
CBP officers seized a package of heroin weighing almost half a pound.
“This is not a common smuggling method in El Paso but one that CBP officers do encounter from time to time,” said CBP El Paso Port Director Beverly Good.
The seizure was made at shortly after 7 a.m. at the pedestrian inspection area at the Ysleta international crossing. CBP officers were screening arriving border crossers when they selected an individual for a secondary examination after the initial encounter with the man uncovered a number of factors consistent with someone carrying contraband internally.
The subject was transported to a local medical facility for an examination at which time he admitted that he did have a foreign substance concealed in his rectum. The man removed a single package yielding a condom filled with an unknown substance. The contents of the package tested positive for heroin.
CBP officers arrested the man, 44-year-old Alfredo Sanchez of Chaparral, New Mexico. He was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations special agents to face charges associated with the failed smuggling attempt.