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Laredo CBP seizes narcotics worth $3M

Officers searched two separate trucks and found bundles of alleged marijuana and methamphetamine

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents across Texas seized $821M worth of drugs during FY 2020. Pictured is Laredo's World Trade Bridge port of entry. (Photo: CBP)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at two South Texas ports of entry seized narcotics valued at over $3 million in separate cases last week.

The first case occurred Nov. 5 at the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge in Laredo when officers checked a truck hauling a shipment of cutting machines arriving from Mexico. Officers said they found 149.12 pounds of alleged methamphetamine hidden inside buckets within the shipment. 

Buckets containing 149 pounds of methamphetamine
were seized by CBP officers at Laredo’s Colombia-Solidarity Bridge on Nov. 5. (Photo: CBP)

The second seizure occurred Nov. 6 at Laredo’s World Trade Bridge. CBP officers assigned to the cargo facility encountered a truck hauling a shipment of leather seat cushions from Mexico. The officers discovered 600 packages containing more than 1,570 pounds of alleged marijuana in the shipment.

The narcotics from the two cases have a combined street value of $3.3 million.


CBP seized the narcotics and the cases were turned over to the Department of Homeland Security Investigations. 

During fiscal year 2020, CBP officers across eight ports of entry in Texas seized 125,307 pounds of marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. The drugs were worth an estimated $821 million on the street. 

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Noi Mahoney.

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Noi Mahoney

Noi Mahoney is a Texas-based journalist who covers cross-border trade, logistics and supply chains for FreightWaves. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English in 1998. Mahoney has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working for newspapers in Maryland and Texas. Contact nmahoney@freightwaves.com