Dec. 15 (UPI) — U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Officers said Friday they seized 36 pounds of cocaine at the Port of Ysleta near El Paso, Texas.
Officers confiscated the illegal narcotics, with an estimated street value of $495,000, on Wednesday at the port of entry between El Paso and Juarez, Mexico.
CBP Ysleta Port Director Arnie Gomez said in a statement the agency remains focused on narcotics enforcement amid the increase in holiday traffic.
“We will keep traffic moving while also preventing the introduction of harmful narcotics,” he said.
Border Patrol officers captured the shipment from a 35-year-old American man who arrived from Mexico via the vehicle lanes. The driver was referred for a secondary screening by a canine unit and a nonintrusive X-ray exam. After conducting the exam, officers found multiple packages of cocaine in the vehicle totaling 36.4 pounds.
Officers turned the man over to Homeland Security Investigations for further questioning, and the narcotics were in CBP custody.
Border Patrol agents working the U.S. southwest border have seized over 27,000 pounds of cocaine in 2023, according to agency statistics. Methamphetamine was the most frequent southwest border drug seizure in 2023 at 121,000 pounds, followed by marijuana at 61,000 pounds. The highest number of drug seizures took place in September, with over 27 pounds of narcotics seized that month.
