Brownsville CBP Officers Seize $809K Worth of Cocaine in Two Seizures

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Brownsville Port of Entry intercepted alleged narcotics in two separate enforcement actions that have a combined estimated street value of $809,710.

“As these two significant enforcement actions aptly illustrate, our frontline CBP officers use multiple enforcement tools and methods to help them carry out the mission of securing our borders and preventing these dangerous narcotics from coming in,” said (A) Port Director Bob Parker, Brownsville Port of Entry.

The first seizure took place on Thursday, May 20, at the Gateway International Bridge when a 29-year-old female United States citizen from Brownsville, Texas, applied for entry into the United States driving a 2012 Volkswagen.  The vehicle was referred to CBP secondary for further examination after a primary inspection.  In secondary, with the aid of a canine unit, CBP officers discovered 15 packages hidden within the vehicle.  CBP officers removed the packages, which contained a total of 35.25 pounds of alleged cocaine.

The second seizure took place on Wednesday, May 26, at the Veterans International Bridge when a 27-year-old male Mexican citizen from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, applied for entry into the United States driving a 2013 Freightliner.  The traveler was referred to CBP secondary for further examination after a primary inspection.  In secondary, with the aid of a non-intrusive imaging system (NII) and a canine unit, CBP officers discovered 29 packages hidden within the 2013 Freightliner.  CBP officers removed the packages, which contained a total of 69.75 pounds of alleged cocaine.

The estimated street value of the narcotics from the seizures is approximately $271,830 and $537,880 respectively.

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