U.S. Customs And Border Protection Officers At Southern Border Seize $8M+ In Meth Disguised As Strawberries
PHARR, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection discovered methamphetamine and marijuana valued at $8,348,000 in two separate, unrelated seizures within commercial shipments arriving from Mexico this week.
"As daunting a task as this may seem, our officers are able to effectively balance processing lawful trade while maintaining a robust enforcement posture to advance our border security mission," said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Port of Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas.
The first seizure happened on April 28, after CBP officers assigned to the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge cargo facility encountered an empty tractor/trailer arriving from Mexico. During its inspection of the shipment, CBP officers uncovered packages of suspected narcotics concealed within the trailer. Officers removed a total of 1,641 packages containing alleged marijuana weighing 624 pounds, which are valued at $125,000.
Hours later, officers referred a tractor/trailer hauling a commercial shipment of fresh strawberries for further inspection and ultimately, they discovered 177 packages of alleged methamphetamine concealed within the boxes of strawberries. These bundles of narcotics weighed 411 pounds and are valued at $8,223,000.
The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, where the drugs were discovered, is a major entry port near the southern border. It oversees both commercial and passenger vehicles.
Both cases remain under investigation by Homeland Security Investigations.