Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

  • Archived Content
    In an effort to keep CBP.gov current, the archive contains content from a previous administration or is otherwise outdated.
  1. Home
  2. Newsroom
  3. Local Media Release
  4. CBP Officers Seize More Than Half a Million in Heroin and Cocaine at the Laredo Port of Entry

CBP Officers Seize More Than Half a Million in Heroin and Cocaine at the Laredo Port of Entry

Release Date
Mon, 08/31/2015

LAREDO, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to work at the Lincoln Juarez Bridge seized heroin and cocaine with a combined value of $656,207 this past weekend.

“These are excellent interceptions from our CBP officers,” said Port Director Joseph Misenhelter, Laredo Port of Entry.  “These seizures demonstrate how our officers’ determination, training and utilization of technology and canines led to the discovery of these hard narcotics.”

The latest incident occurred on Sunday, Aug. 30 when a CBP officer referred a 1997 Ford Explorer driven by a 25-year-old male Mexican citizen from Lomas De Tzompantle, Mexico for a secondary examination.  CBP officers noticed anomalies within the vehicle during the non-intrusive imaging system inspection which led to the discovery of nine pounds of alleged heroin valued at $358,027.

The other seizure occurred on Saturday, Aug. 29 after a CBP officer referred a 2011 Acura driven by a 38-year-old male Mexican citizen from Monterrey for a secondary examination.   After a canine alerted to the vehicle, CBP officers extracted 16 packages containing 39 pounds of alleged cocaine concealed within the vehicle.  

CBP officers seized the narcotics and vehicles in each incident and arrested both men. The men and cases were then turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) special agents for further investigation.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021