Roughly $6.6 Million in Cocaine Seized at Texas Border

Federal law enforcement officers in Laredo, Texas, seized nearly $6 million in cocaine during a smuggling attempt from Mexico.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to the World Trade Bridge in the border town of Laredo utilized modern scanning technology to stop a major drug cartel shipment from reaching the Unites States. On January 30, CBP officers observed a 1996 International tractor hauling a trailer across the bridge from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The tractor was referred to a secondary inspection as part of the agency’s routine screening of cargo coming into the U.S. Non-intrusive inspections, followed by a physical search, revealed 280 packages of cocaine being smuggled.

The contents of the illegal load were determined to be 733 pounds of cocaine. Officials estimated the load of contraband to be valued at $6,650,800.

CBP officers seized the narcotics, officials stated. The case was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations special agents for prosecution. No information about the driver of the tractor-trailer was provided by CBP officials. Drug trafficking in this area is controlled by Los Zetas Cartel, according to information obtained by Breitbart Texas from federal officials previously.

“Our CBP officers’ knowledge of concealment methods and the technology they utilized on a daily basis played a key role in the discovery of these hard narcotics,” said Port Director Gregory Alvarez, Laredo Port of Entry.

In the neighboring Del Rio Sector, CBP officers assigned to the Eagle Pass Port of Entry stopped a 19-year-old woman from Seminole, Texas, from smuggling $20,000-worth of methamphetamine across the bridge from Mexico. The woman was crossing over the pedestrian lane of the bridge when a K-9 officer alerted to the possible presence of drugs. The woman was searched and found to be carrying four packages taped to her midsection.

The drugs tested positive for meth and weighed 1.21 pounds. Officers estimated the value to be $24,294. She was arrested and turned over to Homeland Security Investigations agents.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.