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The men and women who work for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility in Texas certainly do earn their paychecks. The amount of drugs that they catch trying to be smuggled into the United States at their location is astounding.
Case in point: earlier this week, Customs and Border Protection officers there intercepted $8.9 million worth of alleged methamphetamine. This time around, the drug smugglers tried bringing it into the United States by concealing within a shipment manifested as chayote. (Chayote is a succulent green pear-shaped tropical fruit belonging to the gourd family that resembles cucumber in flavor. People often refer to it as chayote squash.)
It was on April 13 that CBP officers assigned to the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility were checking out a tractor trailer attempting to enter the United States from Mexico. During a secondary inspection, using non-intrusive inspection equipment and a canine team, the agents discovered the alleged methamphetamine.
There was so much meth hidden within the shipment of chayote that officers reportedly spent most of their day removing it from the tractor-trailer. When they were done, 3,770 packages with a combined weight of 1,002 pounds had been taken off the vehicle.
“Our CBP officers continue to take down load after load of harmful narcotics, illustrating the tireless work of securing our border and safeguarding our communities,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry.
Soured squash: @DFOLaredo @CBP officers at #Pharr International Bridge seize $8.9M in methamphetamine hidden within a commercial shipment of chayote, a green, pear-shaped squash from Mexico. @HSI_SanAntonio is investigating. More: https://t.co/NaSMYa6REZ pic.twitter.com/CCXMLhrdzX
— CBP South Texas (@CBPSouthTexas) April 16, 2025
He isn’t exaggerating when he talks about the officers taking down “load after load of harmful narcotics.”
Just two days prior to the $8.9 million worth of alleged meth being seized, CBP officers in Pharr, Texas seized another $14 million worth of meth that was hidden inside a shipment of fresh bell peppers and cucumbers. In March, they seized $2.4 million worth of methamphetamine that was hidden in a shipment of Persian limes. That seizure came after CBP officers seized $7.77 million worth of meth hidden in another shipment of Persian limes in January. Also in March, this same group of CBP officers seized $6.2 million worth of cocaine that was discovered hidden in a shipment of plastic wrap.
All of these massive drug seizures at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility in Texas makes one wonder why smugglers keep trying to bring their booty in through this particular border checkpoint? It’s literally costing them tens of millions of dollars.