BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Brownsville Port of Entry arrested two local women after seizing $8,179,000 worth of methamphetamine which was concealed within household items they were carrying in their vehicle.
“Although this is not a first-time occurrence, this concealment method definitely demonstrates the ingenuity utilized by drug smuggling organizations in their attempts to bring their dangerous drugs across the border,” said David Moreno, Acting Port Director, Brownsville Port of Entry. “To match the creative efforts, our frontline CBP officers must also think outside the box to make these types of outstanding interceptions.”
On Monday afternoon, May 19, CBP officers working at the Brownsville-Matamoros (B&M) International Bridge encountered two female passengers in a black 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe arriving from Mexico. The driver, age 21, and passenger, age 23, both U.S. citizens from Brownsville, Texas, presented U.S. birth certificates and were referred for a more thorough inspection. During the course of the examination, officers took a closer look at a significant quantity of shampoo and Mexican soap products the two females were bringing back. With the utilization of all available tools and resources, officers discovered that the items contained alleged methamphetamine. CBP-OFO seized all the items which contained approximately 255.60 pounds of the narcotics and seized the Tahoe as well.
CBP-OFO arrested both women and subsequently released them to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents for further investigation.