Drug Smuggling - Page 6

Laredo Sector Customs and Border Protection officers seized an unusual combination of contraband at a Texas-Mexico port of entry consisting of pork, poultry, and heroin.

Border wall construction crews in Arizona are seen migrating Organ Pipe and other protected cacti in a video released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A 30-foot bollard wall is replacing a five-mile segment of the border that is now separated only by a vehicle barrier.

Border Patrol agents hit a five-year high in the amount of cocaine and methamphetamine seized. The records come despite agents facing inundating numbers of Central American migrants at historic rates.

Increased immigration and security efforts by the Mexican government resulted in a decrease in illegal crossings in the United States, allowing El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents to return to capturing smugglers and previously deported criminal aliens.

An Oregon drug smuggler was charged Monday in a murder-for-hire plot that targeted his associate, according to reports. 

Border Patrol agents in the Yuma and El Paso Sectors seized methamphetamine and cocaine at interior immigration checkpoints recently re-opened after the downturn in illegal border crossings. Officials closed checkpoints in these sectors and others earlier this year to redirect resources to the border.

The Secretariat of the Navy of Mexico (La Secretaría de Marina–SEMAR) has reported a major fentanyl seizure believed to be of multi-ton in the Mexican port city of Lázaro Cárdenas in the state of Michoacán.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in the Rio Grande Valley Sector seized more than 200 pounds of drugs during two smuggling attempts occurring on consecutive days at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge.

German customs authorities say they have seized 4.5 tons (nearly 5 U.S. tons) of cocaine in a container shipped from Uruguay, a haul with an estimated street value of nearly 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion).

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized more than 300 pounds of heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and small amount cocaine last weekend. The seizures came in four separate incidents at the Port of Nogales on the Arizona-Mexico international border. The officers arrested one Mexican national and four U.S. citizens and seized an estimated $4.2 million in drugs.

Federal authorities arrested a leading lieutenant with Mexico’s Gulf Cartel in Texas after he illegally snuck across the Rio Grande to enter the United States. Law enforcement agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had their sights on the cartel cell leader for some time in connection with multiple drug shipments allegedly linked to him.

Diverting border security resources to address the “humanitarian need” of migrants is leading to record-high levels of illicit drug smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border, said James W. Carroll, director of the U.S. Office of Drug Control Policy.

A pair of videos leaked by citizen journalists in northern Mexico revealed a group of Gulf Cartel smugglers carrying several bundles of marijuana toward the banks of the Rio Grande. It remains unclear if the smugglers successfully made it across the border.

A U.S. citizen who resided in the Mexican border city of Tijuana admitted to smuggling more than 450,000 fentanyl pills from that country into the United States. The drug smuggler made the confession during a guilty plea before a federal judge in a U.S. District Court. The alleged criminal activity occurred during a nine-month conspiracy from February to October 2018.

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.

Officers at a Barcelona airport arrested a man attempting to smuggle drugs under a hairpiece, according to Spain’s national police force.

Mexican security personnel in the state of Sinaloa seized a major meth lab connected to the Sinaloa Cartel. Since 2018, Mexican officials busted over 20 similar labs in the state.

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to an inland immigration checkpoint uncovered a load of drug and human cargo about 50 miles from the Texas-Mexico border.

Tucson Sector agents received notice from Air and Marine Operations surveillance equipment monitors about an ultralight aircraft flying from Mexico into the U.S. The agents tracked down the ultralight and seized a shipment of methamphetamine and fentanyl.

Two separate raids in the border city of Tijuana by federal and state investigative netted 460 pounds of methamphetamine and more than 60 pounds of heroin. The raids also resulted in the seizure of six vehicles and one arrest. 

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents seized more than $2 million in methamphetamine at an inland checkpoint located about 70 miles from the Texas-Mexico border.

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.

A Border Patrol K-9 in the San Diego Sector alerted to the presence of nearly eight pounds of cocaine hidden by an alleged Mexican drug smugger inside his car battery.

Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday testified before the House Appropriations Committee on the myriad challenges festering at the U.S.-Mexico border, describing the overall situation as “really unprecedented.” “really unprecedented.”

A Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent sustained injuries after falling 15 feet while tracking a group of illegal aliens smuggling nearly 300 pounds of drugs. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations aircrew assisted in the rescue of the injured agent.

A new study by a Spanish pharmacologist has revealed traces of human faeces in the vast majority of the cannabis sold on the streets of Madrid, Spain, and that it presents a very real health danger.

MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas – Las autoridades federales en esta ciudad fronteriza mexicana decomisaron más de 790 plantas de marihuana de un vivero clandestino.

Federal authorities in the Mexican border city of Matamoros raided a clandestine nursery where they found more than 790 marijuana plants.

Aircrews assigned to U.S. Customs and Border Protection P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft assisted in the seizure of nearly three tons of cocaine during two separate missions. Officials estimate the drug seizures to be worth in excess of $76 million.

Two separate investigations by Phoenix Police Narcotics and a Joint Bureau of Indian Affairs and Drug Enforcement Agency operation resulted in the seizure of 45,000 fentanyl pills this past week. One incident occurred in west Phoenix while the second took place on an Indian reservation that sits on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Mexican government announced that security operations led by La Secretaría de Marina or the Mexican Navy (SEMAR) located and dismantled 31 drug labs in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa since December 1, of 2018. The state of Sinaloa is the home base for the Sinaloa Cartel also known as the Sinaloa Federation. The cartel continues to have the largest operational footprint throughout the United States and worldwide despite the capture and imprisonment of notorious cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Elements of the Mexican Navy (SEMAR) seized just under two tons of methamphetamine, a quantity of heroin and fentanyl, and over five tons of marijuana during a naval security operation. The seizure took place off the coast of the popular tourist beach resort of Guaymas, located in the border state of Sonora. The port city of Guaymas is located approximately 260 miles south of Nogales, Arizona.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized approximately 360 pounds of methamphetamine and 2,900 of marijuana on Wednesday during two vehicle inspections at the Arizona border with Mexico. The alleged seizures resulted in the arrests of two Mexican nationals and seizure of more than $2.6 million in drugs.

Air and Marine Operations (AMO) aircrew members from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) assisted the U.S. Coast Guard in the seizure of nearly 1,600 pounds of cocaine being smuggled in small boats from Ecuador. The seizures are estimated to be valued in excess of $20 million.

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents seized a shipment of cocaine being smuggled on a passenger bus through an immigration checkpoint located about 60 miles from the Texas border with Mexico.

Elements of the Mexican federal police seized approximately one ton of methamphetamine and fentanyl in powder and tablet form and heroin. The seizure occurred as police conducted security operations on a highway along the Mexico-California border this past Thursday. The operation resulted in the arrest of one male suspect.