CBP officers seize $1.4 million in drugs at Laredo Port of Entry over two-day period

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized over $1 million in drugs at the Laredo Port of Entry in Texas over a two-day period at the end of June.

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Officers captured $1.4 million in alleged cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl in four drug busts Monday and Tuesday, according to a Friday press release.

“In an effort to secure our Nation’s borders, as these narcotics seizures clearly illustrate, CBP has implemented enforcement strategies that have furthered the disruption of dangerous drugs entering the country,” said Laredo Port of Entry Director Alberto Flores in a statement.

BORDER FENTANYL SEIZURES SOARING AS CARTELS PUSH DANGEROUS DRUGS

The officers seized over 40 pounds of alleged cocaine, over 40 pounds of alleged methamphetamine, and over 20 pounds of alleged fentanyl.

The first seizure, which occurred Monday at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge, took place after a CBP officer directed a 2007 Cadillac arriving from Mexico for a second inspection. Upon that follow-up look, officers found packages containing 7.8 pounds of alleged cocaine and 2.51 pounds of alleged methamphetamine. The drugs had an estimated street value of over $110,000.

At the World Trade Bridge the same day, CBP officers discovered 11.11 pounds of alleged methamphetamine in a daily express consignment truck arriving from Mexico. That bust was worth twice as much as the first one.

There was another bust at the same location later in the day in a tractor. During that seizure, officers found packages containing 19.75 pounds of alleged methamphetamine, 32.67 pounds of alleged cocaine, and 22.88 pounds of alleged fentanyl. The estimated street value of the bust came in at $958,404.

The fourth seizure took place at the World Trade Bridge the next day. Officers captured 7.05 pounds of alleged methamphetamine, which had an estimated street value of over $140,000, bringing the total of the four busts to $1,432,165.

More fentanyl and cocaine have been seized at the southern border in the fiscal year of 2021 than in all of the previous year, according to data from Customs and Border Protection.

The total amount of the drug seized in 2021, 7,450 pounds, represents a nearly 300% increase from 2018, when they intercepted 2,801 pounds of it.



CBP has seized 65,254 pounds of cocaine in 2021, up from 58,006 pounds the year before, though lower than the 101,166 pounds of cocaine recovered in 2019. Methamphetamine seizure at the border has increased each year from 2018 to 2020, and it appears that will continue, though it hasn’t surpassed 2020's totals