Border Patrol Seizes $2.2 Million in Meth near Texas Border

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended approximately 70 pounds of methamphetamine at an inland immigration checkpoint located about 50 miles from the border with Mexico.

Hebbronville Station agents assigned to the inland immigration checkpoint located on Farm-to-Market Road 1017 observed a vehicle approaching for inspection. After the initial interview where agents learned the two men are Mexican nationals, they referred the driver to a secondary inspection station, according to information obtained by Breitbart News from U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

During the search of the vehicle, the agents found 41 bundles of drugs. The agents tested the bundles and determined them to be filled with methamphetamine.

In total, the agents found approximately 70 pounds of the illicit drug. Officials estimated the value of the methamphetamine to be in excess of $2.2 million.

The agents arrested both of the Mexican nationals and seized the drugs and the vehicle utilized in the failed smuggling effort. Officials did not disclose the identity of the suspects or their immigration status.

The Border Patrol turned the case over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for investigation and possible prosecution on charges of drug smuggling or trafficking.

Elsewhere, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the DeConcini Crossing in the Tucson Sector seized 19 pounds of cocaine from a 29-year-old man as he attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico.

CBP officials reported that a K-9 alerted to the possible presence of drugs in the rear seat of a Ford sedan. The estimated value of the 19 pounds of cocaine is said to be nearly a half-million dollars. Officers turned the driver, drugs, and vehicle over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation and possible referral to the Department of Justice for drug smuggling charges.

Officials did not disclose the nationality or immigration status of the driver of the Ford sedan.