$18 million of drugs in fresh broccoli shipment

U.S. Customs & Border Protection Office of Field Operations at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility intercepted a significant amount of hard narcotics, which included mostly alleged methamphetamine valued at $18.4 million in a commercial produce shipment.

“This was truly a notable seizure in the commercial environment,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez of port of Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas. “Our officers’ ability to maintain an excellent enforcement posture while keeping trade flowing and uninterrupted is one of our main priorities.”

This outstanding find occurred Feb. 16 at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge cargo facility after a CBP officer referred a tractor-trailer hauling a commercial shipment of fresh broccoli for further examination. The first part of the inspection involved utilizing non-intrusive imaging equipment, which allowed the officers to discover a total of 432 packages of suspected narcotics hidden within the trailer.

CBP officers removed and seized 341 packages of alleged methamphetamine weighing 895 pounds valued at $18 million, 87 packages of alleged marijuana weighing 202 pounds valued at $40,000, three packages of alleged heroin with a weight of 8.82 pounds valued at $353,000 and one package weighing 3.31 pounds of alleged cocaine valued at $25,500.

CBP OFO seized all the narcotics along with the tractor-trailer and the case remains under investigation by Homeland Security Investigations.