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In one of the biggest single day drug seizures of the year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at the Pharr International in Texas confiscated over a ton of meth trying to be smuggled into the United States. Had the drugs made it to the streets of America they would have been worth approximately $31.169 million.
The massive meth seizure took place on November 10 when CBP officers assigned to the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility were inspecting a tractor trailer attempting to enter the United States from Mexico.
Utilizing non-intrusive inspection equipment, the officers discovered 1,859 packages of alleged methamphetamine weighing 2,155.02 pounds concealed inside the tractor trailer’s shipment of serrano peppers.
According to CBP, “Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) technology enables CBP to detect contraband (e.g., narcotics and weapons) and materials that pose potential nuclear and radiological threats. Technologies deployed to our Nation’s land, sea, and air ports of entry include large-scale X-ray and Gamma-ray imaging systems, as well as a variety of portable and handheld technologies.”
Despite the fact that U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that it currently has 309 large-scale NII systems deployed to and in between U.S. ports of entry, which allows them “to examine cargo conveyances such as sea containers, commercial trucks, and rail cars, as well as privately owned vehicles for the presence of contraband without physically opening or unloading them,” drug smugglers keep trying… and failing.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations seized both the meth and vehicle, while Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio special agents started a criminal investigation.
“Our CBP officers continue to remain vigilant and intercepted this massive methamphetamine load, preventing it from reaching American streets,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry.
https://twitter.com/CBPSouthTexas/status/1856448620565832048
Recently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in San Juan, Puerto Rico discovered and seized 403 pounds of cocaine worth over $3 million concealed inside a shipment of rolling door cylinders. Not too long before that, CBP officers at the Calexico Commercial Facility in California discovered 608 packages containing what tests would later show was meth hidden inside a shipment of green onions.