Border Crisis: Officers Seize $1.9 Million Worth of Cocaine in Three Seizures

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Brownsville Port of Entry intercepted alleged narcotics in three separate enforcement actions that have a combined estimated street value of $1,908,040.

“Our officers remain alert as they use multiple enforcement tools to conduct their inspections while they carry out our CBP mission of keeping our borders secure which led to these significant narcotics seizures,” said Port Director Tater Ortiz, Brownsville Port of Entry.

The first seizure took place on Friday, Jan. 20, at the Brownsville and Matamoros International Bridge when a 19-year-old male United States citizen who resides in San Benito, applied for entry into the United States driving a 2010 Ford.  The vehicle was referred to CBP secondary for further examination after a primary inspection.  In secondary, with the aid of a canine unit and a non-intrusive inspection system (NII), CBP officers discovered 10 packages hidden within the 2010 Ford.  CBP officers removed the packages, which contained a total of 22.75 pounds of alleged cocaine.

The second seizure took place on Monday, Jan. 23, at the Gateway International Bridge when a 22-year-old female Mexican citizen who resides in Brownsville, Texas, applied for entry into the United States driving a 2020 Nissan.  The vehicle was referred to CBP secondary for further examination after a primary inspection.  In secondary, with the aid of a canine unit, and a non-intrusive inspection system (NII), CBP officers discovered 35 packages hidden within the vehicle.  CBP officers removed the packages, which contained a total of 84.83 pounds of alleged cocaine.

The third seizure also took place on Monday, Jan. 23, at the Veterans International Bridge when a 21-year-old female United States citizen who resides in Brownsville, Texas, applied for entry into the United States driving a 2014 Ford.  The vehicle was referred to CBP secondary for further examination after a primary inspection.  In secondary, with the aid of a non-intrusive inspection system (NII) and a canine unit, CBP officers discovered 15 packages hidden within the 2014 Ford.  CBP officers removed the packages, which contained a total of 35.4 pounds of alleged cocaine.

The estimated street value of the narcotics from the seizures is approximately $303,779, $1,132,697, and $471,564 respectively.

CBP officers seized the narcotics along with the vehicles, arrested the travelers and turned them over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents for further investigation.