SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized this weekend 33 pounds (15 kilos) of cocaine concealed inside various courier packages inspected in the Air Cargo facilities at the Luis Munoz Marin and Rafael Hernández international airports. The estimated value of the seized narcotics is $390K.
“Criminal enterprises continue to challenge our detection capabilities by being very creative in the concealment methods”, stated Roberto Vaquero, Assistant Director of Field Operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “Our officers’ expertise, along with technology, facilitates the detection and seizure of these dangerous substances.”
Field Operations discovered the various amounts of cocaine concealed inside items like a torque converters, toy boxes, box flaps and lip-gloss. All the packages were destined to Puerto Rico, New Jersey and St. Croix.
During the last a week of July, CBP officers seized 11 pounds of cocaine using similar concealment methods.
CBP’s mission is to safeguard America’s borders thereby protecting the public from dangerous people and materials while enhancing the Nation’s global economic competitiveness by enabling legitimate trade and travel.