LAREDO, Texas—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers at the Laredo Port of Entry seized hard narcotics valued at $6.4 million in three separate, unrelated enforcement actions.
“Officers at the Laredo Port of Entry continue to maintain a robust enforcement posture by targeting high-risk shipments and successfully disrupting the flow of deadly narcotics from entering our country,” said Acting Port Director Eugene Crawford, Laredo Port of Entry.
methamphetamine seized by CBP officers at Laredo's
Colombia-Solidarity Bridge.
The first enforcement action occurred on Tuesday, January 19th at the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge when CBP officers assigned to the cargo facility encountered a tractor hauling an empty trailer arriving from Mexico. The 2013 Freightliner tractor and trailer were referred for a canine and non-intrusive imaging system inspection, resulting in the discovery of 40 packages containing 105.99 pounds of alleged cocaine discovered within the trailer. The narcotics have an estimated street value of $817,360.
The second seizure occurred later that evening at the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge when CBP officers encountered a tractor hauling an empty trailer arriving from Mexico. The 2013 Freightliner tractor and trailer were referred for a canine and non-intrusive imaging system inspection, resulting in the discovery of 40 packages containing 272.93 pounds of alleged methamphetamine discovered within the trailer. The narcotics have an estimated street value of $5,458,589.
The third narcotics interception happened on Thursday, January 21st when a CBP officer assigned to World Trade Bridge referred an express consignment truck making entry from Mexico for secondary inspection. CBP officers examined packages within the shipment utilizing a non-intrusive imaging system examination, resulting in the discovery of four packages containing 7.05 pounds of alleged fentanyl concealed within the packages. The narcotics have an estimated street value of $197,400.
The narcotics combined have an estimated street value of $6,473,349.
CBP officers seized the narcotics and two trailers. The cases were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) special agents for further investigation.
Follow the Director of CBP’s Laredo Field Office on Twitter at @DFOLaredo, on Instagram at @dfolaredo and U.S. Customs and Border Protection at @CBPSouthTexas for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos.