CBP Officers Seize Cocaine at Del Rio International Bridge

(Press Release) DEL RIO, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Del Rio International Bridge recently discovered nearly 10 pounds of suspected narcotics hidden inside a car battery.

“This is yet another example of smugglers going to extreme lengths to import drugs into the country,” said Alberto D. Perez, CBP Port Director, Del Rio. “Our frontline CBP officers’ experience and attention to detail are essential in interdicting illegal narcotics.”

On June 12, CBP officers, working at the Del Rio Port of Entry, encountered a 46-year-old man, driving a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, as he arrived in the United States from Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico. During inspection, CBP officers noticed signs of tampering on the car’s battery. Officers used a non-intrusive imaging system to examine the battery and discovered seven packages of suspected narcotics hidden inside. CBP officers removed a total of 9.87 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated value of $76,100, from the battery.

The driver, a Mexican citizen who resides in Del Rio, was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for federal prosecution.

CBP’s Del Rio Port of Entry is part of the Joint Task Force-West South Texas Corridor, which leverages federal, state and local resources to combat transnational criminal organizations.

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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.