At 13,101 pounds, U.S. Customs & Border Officers seize record 6 1/2 tons of deadly drug
AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Insider Report) — “This gargantuan methamphetamine seizure – the largest ever taken down by U.S. Customs & Border Protection Officers at a port of entry – uniquely illustrates the serious narcotics threat our officers and nation face on a daily basis, as well as their effectiveness in utilizing our technological enforcement tools and experience to zero-in on these threats,” said Donald Kusser, Director of Field Operations for the Laredo Field Office, after U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Officers seized a record six and a half tons of methamphetamine in a single enforcement action.
At 13,101 pounds, this one seizure of narcotics is the single largest capture, during a single law enforcement action, and is estimated to have a street value of more than $117.1 million, according to the official CBP news release.The seizure occurred at the Camino Real International Bridge (right) – which crosses the Rio Grande River and connects the United States & Mexico border cities of Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, located in Mexico's state of Coahuila – when a CBP officer referred a tractor trailer manifesting itself as a shipment of drying agent for piglets for secondary inspection.
The meth was hidden in the back of the tractor-trailer.
"Following a canine and non-intrusive inspection system examination, CBP officers discovered a total of nearly 13,101 pounds of alleged methamphetamine,” the release noted.
The meth was hidden in the back of the tractor-trailer.
"Following a canine and non-intrusive inspection system examination, CBP officers discovered a total of nearly 13,101 pounds of alleged methamphetamine,” the release noted.
Drug traffickers have increasingly been able to make billions of dollars by flooding massive amounts of deadly narcotics across the border since President Joe Biden signed a series of "Executive Orders" on his first day in office, which have hampered or restricted multiple levels of Law Enforcement Officials from apprehending and pursuing drug cartels or human traffickers, said Special Agent in Charge of Houston's Homeland Security Investigations Division (HSI,) Mark Dawson.
“For far too long, drug trafficking organizations have been raking in billions of dollars at the expense of our communities that're left ravaged by addiction, death and despair as a result,” said Dawson of the drug's impacts.
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“Thanks to the outstanding teamwork between HSI Houston, HSI Eagle Pass, HSI Mexico City and our partners at CBP, we have prevented a record-breaking amount of these narcotics from making it to Houston where they would have destroyed an untold number of lives,” Dawson said.
The seizure at the Camino Real International Bridge occurred on Sunday, February 18th.
Located within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS,) HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) is DHS's principal investigative arm, and is responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats – specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move.
HSI’s mission is to investigate, disrupt and dismantle terrorist, transnational and other criminal organizations that threaten or seek to exploit the Customs & immigration laws of the United States.
With a workforce of more than 8,700 employees – including more than 6,000 Special Agents who are assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States – HSI has legal authority to conduct federal criminal investigations into the illegal cross-border movement of people, goods, money, technology and other contraband throughout the U.S.
