U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in South Texas continue to increase cocaine seizures along the border

ALABAMA – It’s been a busy year for U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and Department of Homeland Security agents in terms of drug seizures. So far this year, authorities have seized the largest quantity of drugs ever seized at a U.S. port of entry when they seized more than six tons of methamphetamine in February. And last month, CBP conducted the largest fentanyl bust in the agency’s history, seizing nearly 4 million blue fentanyl pills.

As drug smuggling continues to occur daily at all ports of entry, and there have been recent reports of cartels using children to smuggle drugs in Arizona, officials at the Eagle Pass location remain on high alert. Earlier this month, CBP agents in Eagle Pass seized more than $700,000 in narcotics and more recently had back-to-back days with bundles of cocaine trying to be smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border.

On September 21, Border Report said a Mexican national was arrested for allegedly concealing $815,300 worth of cocaine in an SUV. The drugs, totaling 61 pounds, were seized at the Eagle Pass International Bridge that connects South Texas to Piedras Negras, Mexico.

The 24-year-old was arrested for driving the 2016 Ford Explorer, which CBP officers said contained 32 packages of drugs hidden inside the vehicle.

That was the second major cocaine seizure by CBP agents in two days at South Texas ports. On September 20, a day prior to the Eagle Pass seizure, CBP officials at the Brownsville-Matamoros International Bridge intercepted a car containing narcotics with a street value of $675,000.

The drugs were transported by a 21-year-old female U.S. citizen from Texas, and officials revealed that 50.6 pounds of cocaine was hidden in her car.

“Seizures like these underscore the reality of the drug threat and the importance of CBP’s border security mission,” Pete Beattie, Eagle Pass CBP port director, said in a statement. “Using an effective combination of inspection skills, training, experience and technology, our frontline CBP officers seized a significant quantity of cocaine,” Beattie added.

According to the most recent data released by CBP, the agency had seized nearly 500,000 pounds of drugs along the U.S. southwestern border in August. With September data yet to be released, fiscal 2024 has been busier than fiscal 2023. Despite an increase in sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against drug traffickers and cartels, matters on the agenda. to get up.

The past two years have been The Treasury Department has sanctioned more than 350 targets for involvement in drug trafficking at all stages of the supply chainfrom major cartel leaders to under-the-radar laboratories, transportation networks and chemical suppliers.