K-9 Alerts Lead to $5.7M in Meth Seizures at Texas-Mexico Border Bridges

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than $3 million in methamphetamine after a K-9 officer alerted to the possible presence of the drug during an inspection at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas. The following day officers made another large meth seizure valued at more than $2.7 million.

CBP officers assigned to the World Trade Center Port of Entry in Laredo observed a 2002 Freightliner tractor-trailer rig approaching from Mexico for inspection on April 27. The agents referred the driver to a secondary inspection station where a CBP K-9 officer conducted an inspection and alerted to an odor it is trained to detect, according to information obtained from Laredo Sector CBP officials.

Officers also conducted a non-intrusive imaging inspection that revealed anomalies in the trailer area. The officers opened the trailer and found 220 pounds of methamphetamine. Officials estimated the value of the drugs at $3,086,440.

Officials seized the drugs and the tractor-trailer. Homeland Security Investigations will examine the evidence for possible prosecution.

The following day, CBP officers assigned to the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge observed a 2002 Chevrolet 2500 pickup truck approaching from Mexico. The officers referred the driver, a 63-year-old Mexican national from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, to a secondary inspection station for further inspection. A K-9 officer alerted to a scent he is trained to detect. Further inspection from non-intrusive imaging systems revealed the possible presence of drugs.

The officers found five-gallon buckets containing 194 pounds of liquid methamphetamine, officials reported. The value of the methamphetamine is estimated to be more than $2.7 million.

The two-day total for the seizures came to more than $5.7 million.

“These back-to-back seizures of large quantities of methamphetamine graphically illustrate the reality of the narcotics threat our officers face on a daily basis,” Laredo Port of Entry Director Albert Flores said in a written statement. “By seizing large loads like these, our officers are impacting the ability of transnational criminal organizations to operate and keeping our streets safer.”