CBP Anti-Terror Inspections Yield High Contraband Seizure Rate
EL PASO, TX. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers performing anti-terror inspections at border ports of entry in El Paso, West Texas, and New Mexico made 26 drug busts this week.
CBP officers seized 2,514 pounds of marijuana in 24 seizures and a small quantity of cocaine in two additional busts.
The largest seizure of the week happened August 3 when CBP officers at the Paso Del Norte border crossing in El Paso seized 513 lbs. of marijuana last Friday. The seizure was made at about 1 p.m. when a 2001 Dodge Ram pickup with a load of furniture in the bed entered the port from Mexico.
A CBP officer at the primary inspection booth directed the driver to the secondary inspection area where CBP drug sniffing dog “Lady” alerted to the furniture. CBP officers cut open one sofa and located numerous tape-wrapped bundles inside. CBP officers removed a total of 460 marijuana-filled bundles from the furniture.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents arrested the driver of the vehicle, 31-year-old Miriam Molina Macias, of Juarez, Mexico. ICE agents also arrested the passenger, 28-year-old German Molina Macias of Juarez, Mexico, in connection with the failed smuggling attempt. The driver’s 11-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter, who were also passengers in the truck at the time of the seizure, were turned over to a relative.
CBP officers working at area border ports recorded 122 immigration violations during the last seven days. CBP officers identified a total of 36 intended immigrant cases (people with legitimate entry documents intending to live/work illegally in the U.S.), 32 imposters (people using a legitimate document not assigned to the person) 34 false claims for U.S. citizenship by non U.S. citizens, 12 people attempting to enter the U.S. with counterfeit, fraudulent, or altered entry documents, and eight people who attempted to enter the U.S. without inspection.
Area CBP officers made 19 agricultural and food seizures during the week, resulting in $4,075 in penalties being assessed. In one interesting case on Tuesday, CBP officers at the Santa Teresa port of entry seized 38 pounds of undeclared avocados and 39 pounds of pork while performing inspections at the southern New Mexico border crossing. The contraband food was discovered in several boxes in a vehicle trailer. The driver of the vehicle, a 43-year-old man from Los Angeles, California, was fined $300 for the violation. He was released after paying the penalty.
Other prohibited items seized this week included raw eggs, bologna, quinces, pomegranates, apples, peaches, guavas, plums, oranges, potatoes, apricots, nisperos and live plants. The interception of these prohibited items are important in preventing the introduction of pests and disease that pose a risk to the U.S. agriculture industry.
