Feds Seize 333 Pounds of Meth at Texas Border

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 333 pounds of methamphetamine last week at the Laredo Port of Entry in Texas.

The seizure occurred this past Wednesday when CBP officers working the World Trade Bridge referred a truck hauling a generator for a secondary inspection. CBP personnel deployed a K-9 and non-intrusive imaging tools to reportedly reveal a total of 50 concealed packages within the cargo filled with methamphetamine for a total weight of 333 pounds. Investigators determined the total street value was $6.6 million.

“This was an excellent interception by our CBP officers, and a great example of the layered enforcement implemented by CBP,” said Port Director Albert Flores, Laredo Port of Entry. “The narcotics that were seized today are the kind that have been devastating the most vulnerable members of our communities.”

In April, CBP officers seized 425 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $8.5 million during three separate incidents at the Texas border, Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge cargo facility, Hidalgo International Bridge, Gateway to the Americas International Bridge in Laredo, Texas.

Also in April, CBP officers seized 155 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $3.1 million at the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge in Laredo.

In February, CBP officers seized nearly a half-ton of methamphetamine estimated to be worth more than $12 million at the Pharr International Bridge in Texas. The smuggler allegedly concealed the drugs within a commercial shipment of frozen strawberries.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com.