Border Crisis: Officers Seize Over $13 Million in Narcotics Texas Border

PHARR, Texas—U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Pharr International Bridge Cargo Facility intercepted $13,600,000 in alleged fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.

“The Pharr cargo facility continues to be a target for smuggling activity, but our CBP officers are relentless and use all available resources to find and stop these smuggling attempts,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry. “Our tools and technology are an import part of keeping our officers safe and being able to test narcotics such as fentanyl on site is important to avoid an exposure to this harmful narcotic.”

On April 6, 2022, CBP officers assigned to the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility encountered a commercial tractor trailer, arriving from Mexico. A CBP officer referred the conveyance for further inspection, which included utilizing non-intrusive inspection systems (NII) and screening by a (canine team). After physically inspecting the conveyance, officers extracted 20 packages weighing 7.89 pounds (3.58 kg) of alleged fentanyl, 10 packages weighing 2.68 pounds (1.22kg) of alleged cocaine, 10 packages weighing 2.73 pounds (1.24kg) of alleged heroin and 3,618 packages weighing 954.60 pounds (433.0kg) of alleged methamphetamine concealed within the trailer.

CBP OFO seized the narcotics and tractor trailer, and the case remains under investigation by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI).