Eagle Pass CBP Officers Seize Marijuana, Heroin
EAGLE PASS, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Eagle Pass seized nearly a quarter-million dollars worth of drugs in two separate incidents recently.
The first seizure occurred on Tuesday evening when CBP officers at the Camino Real International Bridge inspected a 1996 Dodge Dakota pickup truck as it arrived from Mexico. During initial inspection, officers noticed the vehicle appeared to have been tampered with and referred it for intensive examination. A CBP canine alerted to the presence of contraband and a scan with a non-intrusive imaging system revealed bundles hidden within natural voids in the vehicle. Officers recovered three packages of heroin weighing a total of 6.9 pounds, with an estimated value of $141,300. The driver, a 21-year-old Eagle Pass man, was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for federal prosecution.
CBP officers at the Camino Real International Bridge seized more than 100 pounds of marijuana in a separate incident on Wednesday.
While inspecting a 1993 Chevrolet Silverado pickup early Wednesday morning, officers noticed apparent tampering around the bed of the truck. After a CBP canine alerted to the presence of contraband in the vehicle, officers found a third of a gram of cocaine in the driver’s wallet. An intensive search of the pickup, using non-intrusive imaging equipment, turned up 46 bundles of marijuana totaling 106.6 pounds, with an estimated value of $106,600. The driver, a 31-year-old Eagle Pass man was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for federal prosecution.
“Officer training and experience are vital to the detection and interdiction of illicit substances being brought into the country,” said Cynthia O. Rodriguez, CBP Port Director, Eagle Pass. “The ability of our frontline CBP officers to recognize anomalies within vehicles is vital to keeping contraband from entering the country.”
The Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within U.S. Customs and Border Protection tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States, while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation’s food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation’s borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.
