BP Agents Bust Smugglers Loading Pot Into Minivan

EL PASO, TX – Border Patrol agents made yet another big drug bust near the border early Friday morning.

Agents tell ABC-7 they seized 526 pounds of marijuana as smugglers tried to load the pot into a van on Paisano just south of Asarco.

Border Patrol agents said they saw a group of several people loading duffle bags into a mini-vanwaiting on Paisano Drive, south of Asarco. Agents discovered that the vehicle had become high centered on railroad tracks when the driver attempted to flee the area.

Agents caught the driver who they say is a 17-year-old Mexican citizen in the United States illegally. A Union Pacific Railroad locomotive engine assisted Border Patrol agents in removing the disabled vehicle from the tracks

Officials say the marijuana has a street value of $421,000.