$1.6 Million Of Cocaine Seized At Texas-Mexico Border
EDINBURG, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents are keeping busy, having busted three narcotic smuggling attempts of more than 130 pounds of marijuana and over 50 pounds of cocaine.
On Friday afternoon, August 20, Fort Brown Border Patrol Station agents working in Brownsville observed two people illegally enter the United States, one of which was carrying a bundle of marijuana. When agents approached the men, they quickly abandoned the bundle and fled back to Mexico. The bundle of marijuana weighed 23 pounds with an estimated street value of more than $18K.
The next evening, agents saw a man carrying a bundle on his back walk away from the river and further into the U.S. Responding agents found two people and two bundles of marijuana weighing more than 110 pounds. The marijuana has an estimated street value of $92K. The drug smugglers are citizens of Mexico and Honduras. The case was turned over to Starr County Sheriff's Office.
Not long after, border patrol agents working in Roma saw multiple people raft across the river from Mexico and walk toward a neighborhood. Two vehicles approached the area and they began loading bags into the vehicles. As agents responded, the men began running towards the river. A National Guard air asset advised 40 people were absconding back to Mexico from the U.S. riverbanks. The driver of one of the vehicles, a GMC Yukon, absconded from the SUV while leaving it in motion. It drove through a property fence before agents were able to disable it. Inside the Yukon were two backpacks containing over 50 pounds of cocaine. The cocaine has an estimated street value of more than $1.6M. Agents found the driver hiding in the nearby area. The second vehicle fled from the area and was not located. Starr County Sheriff's Office took custody of the driver, vehicle and narcotics.