CBP officers seize more than $1 million in cocaine at PDN port of entry

Customs officers working at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry seized 38 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $1.2 million, federal officials said.

The seizure was made April 26, 2017 when the driver of a 2004 Dodge Dart Frontier entered the port from Mexico.

A CBP officer initiated a secondary examination and noticed anomalies in the appearance of the vehicle.

Officers used a “buster” density meter to examine the car, “producing high readings consistent with hidden contraband,” officials said.

A drug-sniffing dog alerted officers to the presence of narcotics and a scan of the vehicle “revealed anomalies within the rocker panels of the vehicle.”

Officials said officers located 15 cocaine-filled bundles hidden in the rocker panels of the car.

CBP officers arrested the driver, a 34-year-old U.S. citizen male from El Paso. He was turned over to ICE HSI special agents to face charges in connection with the failed smuggling attempt.