EL PASO, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Ysleta port of entry in El Paso have had a busy 48 hours. Three enforcement actions led to the interception of marijuana, fentanyl, ammunition, and rifle magazines.
“CBP officers are enforcing multiple laws while supporting our primary homeland security mission,” said CBP Ysleta Port Director Arnoldo Gomez. “We work hard to process legitimate trade and travel while also stopping those who intend to violate the laws of our nation.”
On Tuesday, CBP officers encountered a 22-year-old female, U.S. citizen who arrived from Mexico via the vehicle lanes. The individual was referred for a secondary inspection of the vehicle where screening by a canine team and non-intrusive exam led CBP officers to locate multiple marijuana-filled bundles in the vehicle. The combined weight of all the bundles was 140.55 pounds.
A few hours later, CBP officers encountered a 39-year-old female, U.S. citizen who arrived from Mexico via the pedestrian lanes. The individual was referred to secondary where screening by a canine team was conducted resulting in a positive alert. A pat down search was conducted leading to the discovery of one fentanyl filled bundle with a weight of 0.24 pounds concealed in her groin area.
On Wednesday, CBP officers conducting outbound enforcement operations selected two vehicles that were traveling together for a routine inspection. CBP officers identified anomalies within both vehicles and followed the inspections with a non-intrusive exam. Further search resulted in the discovery of 160 rifle magazines and 1,900 rounds of ammunition concealed within both vehicle gas tanks. The drivers of the vehicles were a 28-year-old female Mexican citizen and a 50-year-old male Mexican citizen.
The subjects arrested by CBP officers were turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for prosecution.