U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents seized around $22.5 million worth of cocaine at four different locations in Texas last week. The total amount of cocaine confiscated in the seizures amounted to approximately 907 pounds, or almost half a ton.
The largest drug seizure began at the Border Patrol checkpoint south of Sarita, Texas. It was there that CBP agents pulled over a Ford F-150 for secondary inspection. Using a CBP canine unit, the officers were able to locate 114 packages of cocaine stashed inside multiple travel bags.
After a conversation between Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents and the occupants of the Ford F-150, the passenger "also admitted to supplying narcotics to two (2) vehicles that drove in tandem." Those drugs were said to be being transported in a black GMC Sierra and a white Buick Envista.
30 minutes later, the GMC Sierra appeared at the checkpoint. Inspection of the vehicle resulted in 67 more packages of cocaine hidden in travel bags.
The Buick Envista was then located about a mile from the checkpoint. Inside that vehicle, HSI agents located another 46 packages of cocaine hidden in travel bags. On the phone of the passenger in that vehicle were messages that had been exchanged with one of the occupants of the Ford F-150 "discussing the purchase of travel bags" and justifications for her "unexplained income," ValleyCentral.com reports.
That same day at the Pharr International Bridge in Texas, CBP officers pulled over a commercial tractor trailer making entry from Mexico and found 28 packages of alleged cocaine weighing 70.28 pounds hidden within the vehicle. The estimated street value of the seized cocaine was $930,000.
That drug bust was followed by another one the next at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo, Texas. There, a CBP officer referred a 2001 Ford Explorer driven by a 43-year-old female U.S. citizen for secondary inspection. Using a non-intrusive inspection system and CBP canines, the agents discovered 25 packages containing 65 pounds of alleged cocaine concealed within the vehicle. The narcotics had an estimated street value of $872,777.
Meanwhile, the day after that, over at the Hidalgo International Bridge in Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents pulled over a commercial passenger bus making entry into the United States from Mexico.Utilizing non-intrusive inspection equipment and screening by a canine team, the officers discovered a total of 80 packages of alleged cocaine weighing 208.16 pounds concealed within the bus, as well as a total of $22,051 in undeclared currency. The estimated street value of the seized cocaine was $2,700,300.
"Our CBP officers continue the tireless work of intercepting large amounts of narcotics to safeguard our border," said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry.