LAREDO, TEXAS – U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations at Laredo Port of Entry continued to seize significant amounts of narcotics, arrest fugitives, uncover immigration violations while facilitating a steady amount of traffic during the recently concluded Holy Week period.
“Amid steady vehicular traffic during Holy Week and ongoing construction projects, CBP officers continued to maintain vigilant focus on CBP’s border security mission, seizing significant amounts of narcotics, uncovering immigration violations and apprehending wanted persons,” said Port Director Albert Flores, Laredo Port of Entry. “The enforcement successes are reflective of our ongoing efforts to interdict contraband, degrade efforts of transnational criminal organizations to engage in illicit trade while employing effective facilitation measures to efficiently process large volumes of holiday traffic.”
inspection at Laredo Port of Entry.
Over a 12-day period extending from Mar. 21, 2018 through Easter Sunday on April 1, 2018, CBP officers at Laredo Port of Entry seized hard narcotics totaling $2.6 million in street value, uncovered violations of immigration law resulting in a total of 108 inadmissibles, arrested 17 wanted fugitives. This compares to $3 million in hard narcotics, primarily heroin, 83 inadmissibles and nine fugitives apprehended during the same 12-day period in 2017.
During this same time period, CBP officers at Laredo Port of Entry processed nearly 161,000 private vehicles and buses, over 123,000 pedestrians and issued in excess of 69,000 I-94 tourist permits. This compares to 163,000 private vehicles and buses, more than 149,000 pedestrians and over 66,000 tourists permits issued during the same 12-day period in 2017.
CBP officers realized these enforcement successes and maintained border security at the port while implementing measures designed to facilitate lawful trade and travel. CBP constantly monitored traffic during the holiday periods and opened as many lanes as possible commensurate with traffic flow. CBP officers employed the designated lane at Juarez-Lincoln Bridge for local traffic not requiring any benefit such as s a tourist permit, ran a satellite tourist permit processing station at Outlet Shoppes of Laredo and offered extended hours at Colombia-Solidarity Bridge. CBP also encouraged travelers to apply for I-94s online and to obtain the Border Wait Times app on their smartphone via Apple App Store and Google Play (CBP BWT) so that they can observe the wait times and make an informed decision on which bridge to use.