EL PASO, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Bridge of the Americas international crossing in El Paso, Texas seized a large quantity of methamphetamine Thursday afternoon.
The seizure was made just before 2 p.m. when a large box-truck entered the Bridge of the Americas port of entry commercial cargo facility from Mexico. CBP officers selected the shipment for an inspection.
Over 90 pounds of methamphetamine were discovered inside a piece of machinery that was manifested as an industrial magnetic-separator. A canine unit alerted to the presence of narcotics and an x-ray image revealed suspicious anomalies within the equipment.
“A drug smuggler’s creativity in attempting to hide their contraband in a commercial shipment such as this one is discovered by leveraging all our resources and none is as important as an officer’s experience and persistence,” said CBP El Paso Director of Field Operations Hector Mancha.
The drugs were seized and the case remains under investigation.
While anti-terrorism is the primary mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the inspection process at the ports of entry associated with this mission results in impressive numbers of enforcement actions in all categories.