HIDALGO, Texas — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized millions of dollars in alleged narcotics, weapons and ammunition in three separate incidents over the weekend at the Hidalgo International Bridge port of entry.
CBP says on Friday, November 15, officers encountered a silver Chevrolet SUV making entry from Mexico and selected it for inspection. That's when officers discovered and extracted a total of 12 packages of alleged cocaine with an estimated street value of $370,893 – concealed within the vehicle.
In a separate incident hours later, CBP says officers conducting outbound enforcement operations at the Anzalduas International Bridge selected a white Chevrolet pick-up for inspection. Officers discovered four handguns, 1,070 rounds of ammunition in various calibers, six weapon magazines for numerous rifle brands and calibers and 21 weapon components headed for Mexico.
On Sunday, November 17, CBP says officers at the Hidalgo International Bridge selected a white Mazda SUV making entry from Mexico for inspection. This resulted in the discovery of 30 total packages of alleged cocaine within the vehicle with an estimated street value of $1,032,614.
CBP says the narcotics, weapons, ammunition and weapon parts along with the vehicles used to transport them were seized by officers. Officials have opened a criminal investigation into the seizures and arrested the driver in Sunday’s cocaine seizure.
“Our CBP officers don’t skip a beat when it comes to keeping our country safe. These back-to-back interceptions of weapons, ammunition, and narcotics illustrate the tireless work being done at our port of entry,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry.
